Volume 2, 2024 Editors Introduction

Editors’ Introduction: CBR@CSUCI 2024 volume

We are proud to be able to present the 2024 volume of CBR@CSUCI. This is the second volume in our irregular series – but a series that we hope to produce more regularly in the future. The volume comprises six rich examples of community-based research (CBR) conducted by students under faculty supervision at CSUCI. Each report represents a valuable resource for the community partner, as well as a rich learning experience for our students. Before introducing each of the reports, it is worth taking a moment to describe the current state of CBR initiatives on our campus and where they are headed.

The past and future for CBR at CSUCI

CBR initiatives have grown on our campus for well over a decade. The focus on CBR emerged from our Center for Community Engagement (CCE) as a specific type of service-learning. As we often say, CBR is service-learning in which the service provided is research. Our campus commitment to student research (that is, to students engaging in the kind of original discovery that is the hallmark of the academic endeavor) goes back still further. CBR allows students to engage in the highest form of academic work (original research) while connecting with and making a significant contribution to our communities – or, more specifically, to the community organizations that provide essential services to our communities.

We have created several initiatives to support and promote CBR. (For those interested in learning more about how we built up CBR on our campus, you can read the article by the executive editors published in the journal Metropolitan Universities, “Institutionalizing Community-Based Research: A Case Study of Articulated Program Development.”) The first initiative was simply creating a CBR award that has become part of our annual Celebration of Service in the spring. Our intent there was to increase the visibility of CBR on campus. The second initiative has been our CBR Faculty Fellows program, which last year organized its sixth cohort. The intent there was to build critical capacity among faculty to engage in more CBR and to do so more successfully. The third prong of our initiatives is CBR@CSUCI – a way for strong reports to be recognized and rewarded, and to provide models of the best reports produced at CSUCI. In combination, those three initiatives seek to raise the visibility of CBR, diffuse expertise of practitioners, and provide critical support for those who are interested in pursuing CBR projects. While the pandemic significantly hindered campus-wide CBR since our initial volume was published in 2019, we’re pleased to have regained some momentum in 2024. 

Although we have been successful in building CBR initiatives, there are still important steps that need to be taken to ensure that it grows and thrives in the future. This year, we instituted a new review framework which included the combined expertise of faculty and community partners. That editorial advisory board made overall recommendations about submissions as well as specific suggestions for editing to strengthen the reports. That sort of collaboration between community partners and faculty has very much strengthened CBR@CSUCI – and the editorial board deserves rich thanks for their efforts. We hope that model will be continued in the future. We also recognize that developmental opportunities for community partners around CBR is also essential, and hope that such a program will be developed in the near future.

In spite of those successes in building CBR on campus, it has become increasingly clear that CBR initiatives have suffered to some extent from “falling between the institutional cracks.” While CBR emerged out of the CCE, it has outgrown the ability of the CCE to fully support – and, in any event, it requires broader collaboration, such as with Student Research. Over the past year, we have engaged in a process to apply for institutional funding to support and secure CBR initiatives moving forward. We recently received word that CBR initiatives will be funded for the 2025 calendar year, and the hope is that will lead to annual support. As a result, however, we expect that a new leadership team/structure will be put into place to move it forward – and we hope that they find rich success. It is hard to imagine a program more important for the future of our university at this trying juncture.

2024 volume

This volume presents six strong reports focusing on a range of topics and applying a variety of methods, each of which makes an important contribution to the community.

Dr. José Alamillo and his Chicana/o Studies students conducted an oral history among residents of the historical Wagon Wheel development in Oxnard at the time it was facing redevelopment. The Wagon Wheel was a vibrant community, and their research captured that important piece of Ventura County history before it disappeared. County historians in the future may well turn to their report to better understand an important part of our county.

Dr. Lydia Dixon and her Health Science students worked with Backpack Medicine, who provide vital medical services to Ventura’s homeless population. The research was based on a series of interviews with members of the organization about their experiences in their roles. That kind of research is critical to guide efforts to maintain support for service organizations and to identify pain points to be addressed.

Dr. Ron Berkowsky and his Health Science students worked with Caregivers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing non-medical, in-home support services and transportation for homebound, frail elders. Working with survey data of both care givers and care recipients, the research assessed the kinds of services most used, as well as the quality of relationships cultivated through caregiving. The report underscores the vital services provided by Caregivers.

Dr. Rachel Soper and her Sociology students worked with Community Roots Garden in Oxnard to take up the critical issue of food insecurity among farmworkers. Based on survey research with 100 Oxnard farmworkers, they found that farmworkers in general face high rates of food insecurity, but they are greatest among indigenous and older farmworkers. They also showed a strong interest in eating healthier, which can be facilitated by community gardens.

Dr. Daniel Armanino and his Sociology students worked with Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers (CREW) in Ojai to put together a profile of organizational supporters and volunteers and their priorities. Through an online survey, they collected invaluable demographic and awareness information, and also found that supporters would like to see the CREW expand their traditional work in restoration and clearing trails to include environmental education.

Dr. Dennis Downey and his Sociology students worked with the Community Advocacy Coalition (CAC), an advocacy organization primarily serving the African American community in Ventura County. The survey component will help the CAC to better understand their constituents’ priorities, while the interview component provided a deeper understanding of critical issues impacting the lives of African Americans, such as interactions with law enforcement and microaggressions.

Those brief synopses only provide a glimpse into the research reports, but hopefully they whet readers’ appetites to learn more about their topics – and, potentially, to learn more about how CBR works and why it is such a valuable and fulfilling enterprise. If you are interested in learning more about CBR, please reach out to the CSUCI Center for Community Engagement. We hope that 2025 will be a good year for moving those initiatives forward and supporting more CBR projects.

Thanks and acknowledgements

We would like to again thank our editorial board for their expertise, time, and care in reviewing these reports as well as their ongoing efforts to support our students and the broader community. Their commitment to the value of CBR has been critical to our successes this year – as they will be in the future.

Executive Editors:

Leslie Abell, Sociology

Dennis Downey, Sociology

Pilar Pacheco, Center for Community Engagement

Editorial Advisory Board:

José Alamillo, Chicana/o Studies

Ron Berkowsky, Health Science

José Castro-Sotomayor, Communication

Karina Chavarria, Sociology

Nien-Tsu Nancy Chen, Communication

Sierra Doehr, Saticoy Food Hub

Hailey Ehlers, Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas

Brian Landers, Juneteenth Celebration of Ventura County

Carolyn Mullin, Oxnard Performing Arts Center

Melissa Soenke, Psychology

Cynthia Soto, Westminster Free Clinic

Gabrielle Vignone, House Farm Workers!