Food insecurity as defined by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire such food in a socially acceptable manner. This research paper looks at differences in rates of food insecurity within the general population, among the ethnic groups and across college campuses. Current literature indicates that non-Hispanic blacks are disproportionately affected both within the general population and within the student population when compared to their White counterparts. This research paper is a review of literature that addresses the challenges associated with food insecurity among college students in the US, its causes, coping strategies, and implications both to the students and the society at large. Outlined are successful interventions at various institutions of higher education, resources and programs in place to tackle this societal malaise among college students in particular. Next, the paper addresses the issue of food insecurity among the three public universities in the State of Arizona with a focus on what program and resources each of the universities have in place to help students who are faced with food insecurity. Finally, several workable interventions are outlined that could be implemented to address food insecurity among student population in post-secondary campuses across the nation; ranging from the customary food pantry set up to the grandiose for universities that desire to be bold, sustainable, revolutionary, desire to be unique among its peers and be trail blazers in addressing food insecurity among college students.
School participatory budgeting has the potential, at least, to offer students an opportunity to experience deliberative democratic decision-making and thus enhance those capabilities critical for effective citizenship. More ambitiously, school participatory budgeting presents an opportunity to delicately and steadily transform school governance to give real decision-making power to students.
The four stand-alone articles that make up this dissertation are four facets of a single case study on the first large-scale instance of school participatory budgeting in the United States. They began with the question: What were the accomplishments and challenges of school participatory budgeting in a large secondary school district in the Southwestern United States in its initial implementation?
This question was interpreted and answered differently in each article. The first article examines aspects of process design and how participatory budgeting might contribute not only to citizenship learning but also the expansion of student voice. The experiences of students, in the second article, and those of teachers and administrators, in the third article, are explored through analysis of interview data. The final article addresses this question by drawing on my own experience of implementing school participatory budgeting using analytic autoethnography. This dissertation presents school participatory budgeting from multiple perspectives and recommends more empirical research on the structure of the process before, during, and after implementation.
This dissertation examines this approach to citizenship learning dynamically by using various methodologies and bringing together the literature on student voice, citizenship learning, participatory budgeting, and curriculum studies in order to enrich the discussions and provide actionable knowledge for advocates and practitioners.