Alabama Campus Coalition for Basic Needs Engage Assessment

Abstract

To address basic need insecurities at ten four-year Alabama universities, a state-wide, six-phase coalition was mobilized to decrease student-reported food insecurity by increasing collaborative efforts across campuses and communities. The Alabama Campus Coalition for Basic Needs Engage Assessment aim to assess engagement and collaborative efforts within the state-wide Alabama Campus Coalition for Basic Needs (ACCBN). Each university coalition champion completed a survey via Qualtrics on coalition participants, structures, processes, development, and relationships using previously validated measures. Researchers conducted follow-up interviews to collect qualitative data on areas of improvement and strength within the coalition, expertise of coalition partners, challenges of coalition formation, meeting structures, and available resources and education. Results of the study showed the value of university administration involvement and recruitment of pre-existing services and activities which offers a starting point for other coalitions that may also seek to address these insecurities at institutions of higher education.