NAEHYCH_PP.pdf

Slide deck from presentation on the Mason Library Hungry Owl food pantry at Keene State College.

Transcript

1. Beyond Books: How College Libraries Can Support Students' Basic Needs @Mason Library Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Celia Rabinowitz Dean of Mason Library Keene State College Keene, New Hampshire
2. Keene, New Hampshire Cheshire County ➢Population: 23,024 ➢Median Income: $55,398 ➢Poverty Rate: 13.7% (national average – 13.2%) ➢91.2% white ➢2nd highest opioid overdose rate in the US (3rd highest death rate) ➢Ranked 3rd in food insecurity among NH counties
3. Keene State College The Public Liberal Arts College of NH ❖3,600 students ❖29% Pell Grant recipients ❖44% First Generation ❖85% white ❖44% NH residents ❖56% live on campus ❖72.1% first-second year retention rate ❖53% four-year graduation rate ✓$14,174 in-state tuition + fees ✓$3,668 unlimited meal plan ✓NH ranks 50th in state support for higher ed ✓NH ranks 1st in average student debt at graduation MASON LIBRARY ✓Open 102 hours/week ✓FY18 gate count: 205,801 ✓Green Bikes, lactation station, Hungry Owl at Mason Library
5. College Student Food Insecurity: What We Know • April 2019 Hope Center Report (hope4college.com) studied 86,000 students at 123 institutions: • 45% of college students were food insecure within the previous 30 days • 56% of college students were housing insecure in the previous year • 17% of college students were homeless in the previous year
6. Students Helping Students at KSC • KSC students attend campus talk, February 2018. • Open Education/Open Pedagogy initiatives in Biology. • Pre-Med and Nutrition Public Health clubs begin collaboration. • Space in unoccupied residence hall renovated to house the Hungry Owl. Opens March 2018. • Online survey, kick-off event, donations, athletic event food for admission drives.
7. OPEN EDUCATION @KSC • Open Education = • Open Pedagogy + Open Access + Open Educational Resources • Open Education encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment. SPARC • OE is based on a critique of industrial and automated models for learning, a valuing of experiential and learner-centered inquiry, and a democratizing vision for the educational process. It is, fundamentally, about the dream of a public learning commons, where learners are empowered to shape the world as they encounter it • Open Pedagogy is an access-oriented commitment to learner-driven education AND as a process of designing architectures and using tools for learning that enable students to shape the public knowledge commons of which they are a part
8. Open Education, Digital Citizenship, and Social Justice at Keene State • Hungry Owl student leaders were inspired by classes using open pedagogy approaches including ungrading, student-constructed syllabi, and student-designed learning outcomes. • KSCopen is the Keene State Domain of One’s Own project. Students do their work in a Word Press open domain provided by the college. Content includes blog posts, videos, lecture notes, creative writing, etc. • The Biology degree is cost-free for textbooks, courses in many other departments use OER or other free-to-students materials. • Students, faculty, and staff link cost of tuition and learning materials with issues around food and housing insecurity.
9. CAMPUS SURVEY RESULTS • 10% of students surveyed (~360 students) • 36.4% agreed/somewhat agreed that hunger caused them not to perform as well in classes. • 34.6% agreed/somewhat agreed that hunger caused them not to perform as well in practice/performance/games. • Students reporting higher levels of hunger reported lower GPAs. • Students indicated they would be more likely to use an on-campus resource than others. Dena Shields (Public Health), Amanda Hickey (Public Health), Margaret Henning (Public Health), Susan Whittemore (Biology) [manuscript under review]
10. Hungry Owl @Mason Library SUMMER 2018 • No students on campus to staff the Randall Hall pantry. • Faculty advisor, Dr. Susan Whittemore, contacts Celia. • Two bins with prepackaged bags arrive at the library. Email goes out to campus. All five bags are gone by the next day. FALL 2018 • Mini pantries in the recreation center, student center, academic buildings [many location also have food collection bins] • Research study (publication in progress).
12. Lessons Learned & Next Steps • Library faculty & staff are often aware of students with food and housing insecurity challenges. • Mason Library will transition to open shelving for access to Hungry Owl items (local homeless and unemployed people will have access). • No reliable use data have been collected (possible student research project) • A new distribution center location is being identified. The mini-pantries will be the primary pick-up locations. • Inclusive mission for students, faculty, and staff in need of a snack or nutritious food for meals. • Swipe in Forward meal share program planned for fall 2019. • KSC Hunger & Homelessness Task Force formed.
13. Community Participation • KSC Department of Athletics & Recreation hosts several food drives offering free admission at games in exchange for donations. • Food donation boxes are located in the Student Center and several academic buildings. • The local food co-op, several local supermarkets, and the local Community Kitchen make donations of food or money. • Campus Habitat for Humanity group made sandwiches for the local homeless shelter last winter and hosted a poverty simulation.
14. Sources • Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice: • Keene State College Factbook • Cheshire County https://datausa.io/profile/geo/ • http://www.city-data.com/city/Keene-New-Hampshire.html • Open Pedagogy Notebook • SPARC • Friedman, Z. (August 29, 2018). These States Have The Most Student Loan Debt. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-finds/2019/07/29/5-best- budget-monitors-of-2019/#2b445ab91828 • https://www.citizenscount.org/issues/higher-education