Basic Needs Insecurity – On-Demand Training

Address the Growing Need to Ensure System-Wide Initiatives to Promote Students’ Health & Academic Goals

3 in 5 students report experiencing basic need insecurity*.

Challenges with food and housing insecurity is a very real impact of the pandemic that will be felt for years to come on campuses across the U.S. Have you conducted assessments and designed effective practices and policies to address the challenges that thousands of students are experiencing in coping with basic needs insecurity daily?

Providing students with the supports they need — for their basic needs, housing, mental health, and employment — is the best way to ensure they can thrive and succeed on your campus. Support and intervention could be the difference between their success and their inability to continue their education.

Basic needs insecurity is a significant threat to higher education – it impacts retention and challenges the fundamental mission of your institution. Provide the support your students need to ensure they can thrive and persist to achieve their academic goals.

Get actionable takeaways from our presenter who shares insight into this alarming and growing problem.

*#REALCOLLEGE 2021: Basic needs insecurity during the ongoing pandemic, March 2021 Hope Report

Topics Covered

You’ll get the exact information you need to take purposeful and confident action to:

• Identify the serious impact of food insecurity on the health, well-being, and persistence of students – implement initiatives that fit your campus community, uphold the mission of your institution, and sustain your at-risk students’ academic success.
• Assess and evaluate the way your current students experience and cope with basic needs, housing, mental health, and employment needs – engage key stakeholders to serve on task forces to design and execute effective campus-wide initiatives to support their needs to ensure they can thrive and succeed on your campus.
• Determine high-risk populations – ensure they know about and get the critical support and assistance they need so they do not fall through the cracks.
• Foster community partnerships and enhance student utilization of community agencies for needs that are beyond the scope of the university – provide the necessary additional support to your students to meet their needs and overcome barriers to their success.
• Empower students facing food insecurity and those advocating to address their needs – provide an asset-based framework to support and effectively work together to alleviate hunger on your campus. 
• Provide spaces on campus to be available and easily accessible to students who may be experiencing basic need insecurities – increase their sense of security and belonging and allow a safe refuge for their “poverty naps,” where students sleep because they are hungry and can’t get food.

Presenter

Ali Martin Scoufield is currently serving as the Interim Dean of Students at Cleveland State University (CSU) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Click here for full bio.