Building Health Youth in Merced County

 The application of university resources  Faculty  Students  Staff  To address and solve challenges facing communities  Through collaboration with these communities. Commission on Community-Engaged Scholarship in the Health Professions (2005)

“Universities can, and must, play a role in combating the problems that plague our communities, from poverty to crime to racism and more." William Richardson, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

 University of California is a research university  Including the Merced campus  Distinguishes the UC from other state and most private universities and colleges  If the State of California were a company, the UC would be its R&D department  Charged with ensuring progress and viability into the future

 Better understanding of the world and its people  Can lead to  Economic development  Improved education  Better health and well-being  Reduced social problems and inequalities

 Discovery (Basic )  Search of new knowledge.  Application  How knowledge can be applied to the issues of the times  Engagement  Connects any of the above to the understanding and solving of pressing social, civic, and ethical problem Boyer (1996)

Discovery Engaged Application Passive Support Participation and Use Of Information Mutual Partnership SCHOLARSHIP APPROACH ROLE OF COMMUNITY Applied

 Involves the researcher in a mutually beneficial partnership with the community (citizen/agency)  Throughout the process  Identification of the issue  Defining the goal  Agreeing on the methods  Participation by citizens  Communication of the findings  Academic audience  Accessible to, and can be used by, the community

To develop and support the capacity for  UC Merced faculty and students to engage with the community in research and scholarship  The community to access the research expertise available at UC Merced

 Important to apply the resources of the university to address the needs in the community  One way our university can bring value to our community and society

 The community has unique knowledge that can lead to  Better scholarship  Higher likelihood that improvements result in the community

“Where we live, work, learn and play has a profound impact on our health”  10-year imitative started in 2010  Selected 14 communities  Support the development of communities where kids and youth are  healthy,  safe and  ready to learn

One of the goals:  Support healthy youth development  Mobilizing youth as leaders and change agents  Supporting kids to  stay in school,  find meaningful work, and  connect with caring adults helps the next generation to thrive.

 To strengthen collaboration between UC Merced and the community  To build a body of knowledge about local  Community health issues and  Factors that influence health equity

 Provide training in community engaged research  Faculty and students  Community members  Match faculty and community members to conduct research  At least 7 ongoing projects  Develop data bases  Community agencies  Faculty expertise

 Feature examples of positive youth development programs  Shown to work well in applications in the Central Valley or elsewhere in the State.  Stimulate thinking about youth development  Provide ideas for possible initiatives that can work in our community.

 The California Endowment  Local BHC partners and leadership  Geneva Skram  Presenters  Conference attendees  Chancellor Leland