College Students Acculturative Stress and Wellbeing: Examining School Connectedness as a Moderator

College of Professional Studies

Amongst adolescents, school connectedness has been found to predict positive student wellbeing (i.e., self esteem and depression). The present study plans to replicate these result with college students, whom experience daily stress. For some students this daily stress includes acculturative stress (i.e., psychological process of adapting to a dominant group that differs from one's heritage), which is negatively associated with wellbeing. We will examine how school connectedness buffers this association.

Community Brochure for Open Door Community Health Centers

Andrea Jones, Social Work Graduate Student

College of Professional Studies

My research focuses on community access to cultural and crisis resources, through networking with community health centers. My brochure will help reach a boarder population throughout Humboldt and Del Norte counties on educating and advocating for families about health services offered at their local clinic site. While Open Door struggles to retain staff, and providers, its important for the community to have additional access to other resources that are not quite at capacity. This will support small organizations that focus on cultural and diverse practices, as well as acknowledge Indigenous people by having others support and give back through their honor tax.

Community Currency for Humboldt

College of Professional Studies

I will conducting a feasibility study for the implementation of a local community currency in Humboldt County, in conjunction with the impacts (positive or negative) of starting a community currency. This study will be based off of examples of current successful community currencies.

Community Needs Assessment for the Bear River Band of Rhonerville Rancheria

College of Professional Studies

My project is a community needs assessment for the Bear River Band of Rhonerville Rancheria, who are my community partners. I am working with Liana Whiteley, Director of Social Services. This needs assessment is needed to effectively assess and address the educational needs of the youth in their community. It is also a way to assess how the local school districts can better support the education of the tribes youth, their families, and their community. With this needs assessment, I hope to be able to capture the necessary information to demonstrate Bear River Rancheria’s need for an educational system that is supportive and inclusive of their community and culture.

Community Youth Center Capacity Building

John Evans, Social Work Graduate Student

College of Professional Studies

Dream Quest (DQ) is a youth center in Willow Creek, CA that provides positive youth development opportunities to the communities of Eastern Humboldt County and Western Trinity County. DQ is currently planning for an expansion into a new purpose built building which will extend DQ’s capacity to positively impact the community. Along with facilities expansion, DQ is planning to expand the capacity of its staff and programming, including the continual improvement of youth outcomes. DQ requested my assistance to collaborate in an effort to uncover knowledge around program evaluation and the experience of families involved with DQ.

Comparing Male and Female Domestic Violence Offender Responses Regarding Experiences Related To Intimate Partner Violence

College of Professional Studies

Historically, male violence has been viewed as a way to maintain power and control over a female partner within an intimate relationship while female violence has been viewed as a response to a male intimate partner’s attacks (Dobash & Dobash, 1979; Walker 1989). This community research project examines differences in attitudes and experiences related to violence among male and female domestic violence offenders. Individual interviews (N=13) were conducted to gain qualitative data specific to this topic. Participants included 5 men and 8 women enrolled in a 52-week batterer’s intervention program. The project findings will help guide a better understanding of family violence.

Connecting Local Businesses and HSU

College of Professional Studies

We will be conducting a musical event held locally at Blondie's in Arcata that incorporates a canned food drive and an assortment of raffle prizes. One of our goals is to support local businesses and to show the community how much they give back to HSU by asking these local businesses for donations for our raffle. We wish to accomplish entertainment that is in a safe and including environment. We also hope to create opportunities for OhSnap to provide more food for students. To not only be able to give back to the HSU students in need, but to also bring attention to the community that a program like OhSnap exists. We will donate all of our canned goods back to the OhSnap program.

Context-Specific Effects of Facial Dominance and Trustworthiness on Leadership Judgments

College of Professional Studies

Social judgments of faces predict important social outcomes, including leadership decisions. Some studies have even linked these face preferences to actual election outcomes, within one second using just facial cues. Facial dominance and trustworthiness have context-specific effects on leadership decisions, with facial cues linked to dominance being preferred in hypothetical wartime scenarios and facial cues linked to trustworthiness being preferred in hypothetical peacetime scenarios. Here, we report a conceptual replication of Spisak et al. (2012), using only female faces that vary naturally in perceived trustworthiness and dominance.

Conversations on Transportation- Exploring Transportation Concerns for HSU OLLI Members

College of Professional Studies

HSU OLLI holds classes all over Humboldt County. With a member population of people aged 50 and better, the accessibility issues and transportation problems getting to all the class sites is a huge concern for the program. This study looks into what exactly are the barriers for members and what transportation options are available in Humboldt County for this population.

County Wide Assessment of Syringe Exchange Programs

College of Professional Studies

Intravenous drug usage can lead to multiple detrimental health related risks including the transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C, abscesses and infections, and drug related overdose. One of the most crucial interventions proven to reduce rates of these health risks among injection drug users is the syringe exchange program. This project examines the active syringe exchange programs in Humboldt County in order to explore the various practices, policies, and services offered by each. The ultimate goal for this project is to strengthen agency relationships, promote sharing of information and best practices, and maximize our ability to reach people in need.