Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California San Diego

Title of entry: Addressing Student Food Insecurity Through Collective Impact

About this entry: At UC San Diego, 51% of students report experiencing food insecurity. As part of campus efforts to support student success through cross-divisional collaboration, UC San Diego Academic Affairs initiated a Collective Impact initiative in 2025 to address this critical need.

The cross-functional team used information from the 2022 and 2024 University of California Undergraduate Experiences Survey, or UCUES, as well as data from the 2024 UC San Diego Student Food Security Survey, to ascertain what percentage of students had heard about CalFresh, California’s EBT (food stamp) program, if they’d applied for the program, if they were receiving benefits and the sources from which they heard information about CalFresh.

Led by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, the team created a strategic engagement approach designed to increase student awareness and engagement with CalFresh by 10% through activation of a new group of trusted “promoters” and channels — faculty, support staff and non-traditional venues — to deliver important CalFresh messaging to students in 2025. This strategic effort was undertaken in collaboration with faculty working on a Center for Economic Justice Grant to increase students' financial security.

The strategic, research-based approach drove an 18% increase in CalFresh applications from UC San Diego students — exceeding its goal — and an additional 1,590 individuals received benefits, totaling $5.1 million in added support.