Community Engagement

Public health, by design, is focused on community engagement. Many of our department’s educational experiences and much of our research activities are carried out in collaboration with local communities. We work closely with our Community Advisory Board to review and improve our programs and to ensure we adapt to current practice needs. Our student internship experiences place students in community organizations where they learn how their course work is translated to real-world practice. These experiences amplify classroom learning and are transformational!

Community Engagement Highlights

LINK Program. The Leveraging Interdisciplinary Nutritional Knowledge (LINK) Program is a USDA-funded collaboration among five Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, and Fullerton, Long Beach City, and Santa Ana Colleges) to promote the success of underrepresented students in the food and human sciences professional and scientific workforce. LINK trains undergraduate and graduate students in Latinx nutrition through an intensive, cocurricular training program. LINK Scholars acquire professional development and leadership skills, are mentored by research faculty in Latinx nutrition, and then apply these skills in community-based externships to help maximize Latinx health. More information about this project is available here: https://www.csulb.edu/latinohealth/leveraging-interdisciplinary-nutritional-knowledge-link

Engagement with EOHS Practice Community. Our Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety Faculty Concentration (EOHS) faculty lead works closely with the Orange County Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and serves as the CSUF Student Section mentor. Several ASPP professional members have been recruited to teach EOHS specialty courses. Together, these efforts have created invaluable volunteer, internship, and professional engagement and networking experiences for our students, helping them secure better jobs in their chosen field when they graduate.

Professors and MPH students present at local middle school