Organizational Issue Paper: Competitive Food Insecurities
- Jasmine Nguyen
- Oct 27, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 11, 2021
Date Assignment was Due: October 25, 2020
Description: In EDAD 503: Organizational Leadership, our assignment was for students to develop skills in applying multi-frame analyses to higher education organizational challenges and/or change initiative.
Learning Domains Addressed (Labels):
Education
Assessment & Evaluation
Personal Development
Learning Outcomes:
Evidence:
Reflection:
When I started this assignment, I knew what topic I was going to choose. Before the pandemic shut down began, I worked with our Student Food Pantry to collect data on how many staff and faculty utilized the service on campus. I was planning on using this data to seek additional services and educate our Classified/Faculty colleagues about other services they may need. Although the Food Pantry is for students, the staff does not turn people away who are in need. We often forget about our colleagues who may be silently struggling or facing their daily challenges. I am grateful to have a space like Pirate’s Cove where folks feel safe and are not ashamed.
I began my research by searching through Orange Coast College’s (OCC) Institutional Research department’s archive for previous studies and results. I found the 2018 #RealCollege study’s graphic results analyzing community college students who face food and housing insecurities at Orange Coast College. For SLO #1, I went deeper and found a more extensive study encompassing all of California’s community colleges. This was a situation where any number but zero was unacceptable. Although OCC only had 735 students respond to the survey, 51% of them faced food insecurities in the previous 30 days. 375 Students was an astronomical number. Using this data, I emphasized the need and impact of the creation of The Pirate’s Cove.
In EDAD 503, we read Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership by Bolman and Deal and Leadership: Theory and Practice by Northouse. Bolman and Deal introduced structural, political, human resource, and symbolic framework, while Northouse introduced many leadership theory styles. In SLO#2, SWiBAT identify theories and frameworks used in the case study; I analyzed and identified Ethical Theory (Northouse, 2006) and Structural Framework (Bolman & Deal, 2013) to dissect and understand how the challenge came to be. Dr. RGK had always spoken about using multi-frames to manage difficulties in class. In my proposed solution, I had eliminated Ethical Theory and supplemented it with Servant Leadership (Northouse, 2006) instead. There was nothing that could have prevented me from utilizing all three theories/frameworks. It would have been a wiser choice to combat challenges with multiple angles and solutions rather than restrict myself to only two options.
In the first drafts of my paper, I made very clear points and was very straight forward. Thanks to Hedrick Flores, a cohort mate, when peer editing my paper and made a small note asking why this issue was important to me? I had forgotten to point out why I cared about this topic so much. For SLO #3 (SWiBAT illustrate personal connection to the topic), I am a former community college student who faced housing and food insecurities. I have intimate knowledge of what the struggles and physical pains of hunger felt. It’s the reason why I empathize with the students who need this service. As an advocate for the services the Pirate’s Cove offers, I was conflicted when my supervisor began deeming the food pantry a foodservice competition to our campus foodservice operation. He went to the extent of monitoring the outside of The Pirate’s Cove to take notes on how many students, faculty, and staff utilized the service. He made statements about those using the panty as folks with money but chose the free service versus paying for meals on campus. His statement was extremely hurtful. I secretly knew that 70% of his direct staff members utilized the pantry weekly. My office was in an open area where many students could freely walk in; I purposely took healthy snacks from The Cove to set up a free grab and go station in my office. I knew exactly how many of our Culinary Arts and Food Service Management students took a snack from my office each week. I could only imagine the food challenges our Culinary Art students faced daily, working with food in class and at the same time could be hungry. In my paper, I took a risk and confessed to my personal history of being a food-insecure student. It was challenging to write down and relive it, but in the end, I am better because my connection made the cause worth it.
References:
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing organizations: artistry, choice, and
leadership. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand.
No Author. (2019, October 17). Food Pantries in Schools. Food Pantries in Schools - Healthy Eating & Nutrition Education (CA Dept of Education). https://www.cde.ca.gov
/ls/nu/he/schoolfoodpantries.asp.
Goldrick-Rab, S., Baker-Smith, C., Coca, V., & Looker, E. (2019, March).
https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/RealCollege-CCCCO-
Report.pdf. Philadelphia, PA; The Hope Center.
Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice. Sage.
OCC Office of Institutional Effectiveness. (2019, June). 2018 Orange Coast College
#REALCollege Survey Data. Costa Mesa, CA; Orange Coast College.
Vega, P. (2018, January 23). Orange Coast College debuts official food pantry to help
students fill nutrition gap. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-
me-pirates-cove-20180122-story.html.
Vision and Mission Statement. http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu/about_occ
/office_of_the_president/Pages/Vision-and-Mission-Statement.aspx.
Question: What is a small act that can help restore someone's dignity? Let me know in the comments!
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