Report on SF State student homelessness and housing insecurity presented to campus at release events

San Francisco State University Health Promotion & Wellness, along with Interim Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management Beth Hellwig and Associate Vice President for Student Life & Dean of Students Danny Glassmann, hosted a series of events in December to promote the release of a new report, Student Housing Insecurity and Homelessness at San Francisco State University.

The report was a joint project of Health Promotion & Wellness and the Health Equity Institute, which supported faculty researcher Jessica Wolin as principal investigator to work with a class of SF State Master of Public Health students to conduct interviews with campus stakeholders and to synthesize multiple data sets in order to have a fuller picture of the experiences of housing insecure and homeless Gators. The report also included a set of recommendations and priorities for the campus in order to address the issue.

The goal of the release events was to provide the campus community with an important opportunity to engage in robust dialogue regarding how to reduce student housing insecurity and homelessness. In that vein, the events featured presentations by the leading researcher on the topic, Rashida Crutchfield, visiting from CSU Long Beach, and Jessica Wolin and her students.

Three separate events were held. The first was a presentation of current research and the report’s findings to campus leadership, which included remarks by Hellwig and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Eugene Chelberg. About 50 people attended including deans, senior administrators and directors from all cabinet areas, as well as SF State President Lynn Mahoney.

The second event was a presentation to the SF State’s Basic Needs Committee and the Basic Needs Research and Creative Works group. These groups of about 35 people are composed of staff, faculty and students who have dedicated their focus to addressing basic needs concerns on campus.

The final presentation for student leaders, especially those who participated in the research themselves, and was led by Glassmann. Approximately 30 students attended.

The events featured a lively discussion and renewed dedication from all areas of campus to address the report’s recommendations. They successfully highlighted that addressing student homelessness is a campuswide effort and requires a universitywide response. Since these meetings, Health Promotion & Wellness and the Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management have received a great deal of support from those who attended in putting the report’s recommendations into action.

Images: (Top) Presentation to Basic Needs Committee and the Basic Needs Research and Creative Works Group; (lower) morning presenters at the campus leadership event