This document outlines the Wichita State University Hunger Awareness Initiative, which aims to raise awareness of food insecurity on campus. The initiative follows a five pillar model of research, media, events, community engagement, and presentations. It has conducted a campus hunger survey, packaged over 21,000 meals, held food drives collecting thousands of pounds of food, and engaged in community panels and conferences. The research on campus hunger uses qualitative methods like focus groups and interviews to better understand students' experiences with food insecurity and scarcity.

1. The Wichita State University
Hunger Awareness Initiative
Building Your Own Hunger Awareness
Initiative:
A Recipe for Success
Presenters: Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Ph.D., David Pan, Ann
Hoskinson, Hannah Coen, Cassie Standley, Casey Donnell, Joseph
Mutata

2. What is Food Insecurity?
 Limited or uncertain availability of
nutritionally adequate foods (USDA)
 Trade-offs between important
basic needs
 Adequate food
 Housing
 Medical care
 Transportation

3. Mission Statement
 To raise awareness of hunger
 To study the nature and scope of food
insecurity on the WSU campus

4. Five Pillar Model

5. CollaboratorsCollaborators

6.  Social Media
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Website
 Google+
 Traditional Media
 Radio
 Newspaper
 Television
 Posters
MediaMedia

7. Media
 Social Media
 No cost
 Develop critical
skills
 Tap the power of
social networks

8. Media
 Facebook
 483 likes
 12 event pages
facebook.com/WSUHungerAwareness

9. Media
 Twitter
 166 followers
 716 tweets
@WSUHunger #WSUHunger

10. Media
 Website & blog
 Depth
 Content
 Cohesion
 Control
wsuhunger.wordpress.com

11. Media
 Google+
 Collaboration with
universities
statewide
 Gmail
 Google Drive
 “Hangout”

12. Media
 Traditional media

13. EventsEvents

14.  Fall 2011
 Communication Week
 WSU Hunger Awareness
Presentation
 Numana Lunch
 COMM 111 food drive
571 lbs. collected
EventsEvents

15. Events
 Fall 2011
 1St
Hunger Awareness Day
 21,816 meals packaged
 171 volunteers
 1St
Dinner and Conversation
 50 attendees
 7 focus groups
 4 individual interviews

16. Events
 Spring 2012
 2nd
Dinner and Conversation
 75 participants
 Analyzed potential solutions
 Hunger Survey
 Quantitative Survey intended release fall 2012
 Piloted the survey with over 100 WSU community
members

17. Events
 Fall 2012
 Communication Week (Oct. 17th
& 18th
)
 Campus-Wide Food Drive
4,700 lbs of food raised for
the Kansas Food Bank
 Presentation
 Campus Hunger Survey Launch
(Oct. 18th
)
 Over 1,000 responses

18. Events
 Fall 2012 (cont.)
 2nd
Hunger Awareness Day (Oct.
20)
 Shocker Lifeline to End
Hunger
WSU community passed
food hand to hand to the
Kansas Food Bank’s truck
 3rd
Dinner and Conversation

19. Events
 Spring 2013
 8th
Annual Universities Fighting World Hunger
Summit
 Presentation of the four pillar model
 Freeze Mob
 24 student participants
 Recognition by the Student Government Association
 SGA resolution to encourage campus-wide
participation in the annual food drive

20. Events
 Fall 2013
 4th Dinner and Conversation
(Oct. 19)
 2nd
Shocker Lifeline to End
Hunger (Oct. 24)
 Interview with KAKE news

21. Events
 Fall 2013
 Global Food Security Lecture at
the Ulrich Museum of Art (Oct.
24)
 Discussed food insecurity
along the Amazon River
Basin of Peru
 Raised money for Angels of
the Amazon

22.  University communities are
under-researched in terms of hunger
 Existing research does not capture this
population well
The Need for Research

23.  Engaged Scholarship
 “… a collaborative form of inquiry in which
academics and practitioners leverage their
different perspectives and competence in co-
producing knowledge about complex problems.”
Van de Ven & Johnson (2006, p. 803)
Methodology

24.  Four faces of engaged scholarship
 Applied communication
 Practical theory
 Activism & social justice
 Collaborative learning
Methodology

25.  Community based participatory research
 Research is grounded in the community
Minkler & Wallerstein
(2008)
 Emphasizes research that translates into
sustainable community-based action
Israel et al. (2005)
Methodology

26. Methods
 Qualitative inquiry
 Focus groups
 One-on-one
interviews
 Quantitative survey

27.  Emergent themes - qualitative
 Shame, stigma, pride
 Low nutrition / inexpensive food
 Income instability
 Support system
 Food assistance
 Scarcity of time
 Economic conditions
ResearchResearch

28. Past Presentations
 Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2013
 KU Graduate Research Summit 2013
 Kansas Public Health Association Conference 2012
 Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects
Symposium 2012
 Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2012
 Capital Graduate Research Summit 2012
 SWTX / Popular Culture Association 2012 Conference

29. Community Engagement
 Ulrich Museum Food Desert Panel 2013
 Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2013
 Wiley College: Ethical Student Leadership Conference
2013
 Hutchinson Community College Faculty Senate 2012
 Southwestern College: Lunches with Leaders 2012
 Elliott School: Communication Week 2012

30. Community Engagement
 Kansas Hunger Dialogue 2012
 Southwestern College: Health Week 2011
 Elliott School: Communication Week 2011

31. What could you do
with this model?

32. For More Information
Hunger Awareness at Wichita State University
@WSUHunger #WSUHunger
wsuhunger.wordpress.com