Vanessa Mercado, Ed.D.

Research Analyst

My work in the fields of Education and Public Health is centered on educational support services and mentorship of first-generation, low-income, and historically marginalized students as well as the linkages between health and education as it pertains to health equity and academic achievement.

I have a focused interest in addressing basic needs insecurity among community college students. My most recent efforts aim to promote equity and enhance student success by supporting institutional change that reconceptualizes student services in a manner that ensures students’ basic needs are being met.

Read more about my journey and how my work in this area of research began:

(ATTENDEE) Wisconsin Hope Lab. #RealCollege A National Convening on Food and Housing Insecurity Among Undergraduates Convening Summary. (April 28 & 29, 2016) Milwaukee Area Technical College.

RESEARCH AIMS

My research is intended to:

• Shift the discourse around basic needs insecurity in higher education.

• Acknowledge that food and housing insecurity are legitimate academic factors that impact student success.

• Support the larger movement aimed at normalizing basic needs services as indispensable college supports in efforts to improve the student experience.

MY WORK

WHERE MY RESEARCH HAS BEEN REFERENCED

• Sharif, H. S., Hunt, L., & Figueiredo, F. (2024). Food Surrogates? County-Level Association Between Vegetable Production and Food Insecurity in the Rural South. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2024.2412561

• Hai-Jew, S. (2024). Re-Stocking a Food Pantry at a Community College?: Exploring the Post-Pandemic Grant Environment for Supplemental Food. In S. Hai-Jew (Ed.), Navigating Teaching in an Era of Social Distancing and Global Conflict (pp. 435-498). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-3382-2.ch014

• Raylor, Z. W., Serna, K. L., Eguiluz, L., & Marois, M. (2024). “Through Their Fingers Like Water”: How Community College Students View Family as Sources of Financial Education. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 48(2), 88–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2023.2257150

• Bair, M. C., Blackwell-Stegall, R. V., Rafuse, S. E., Roberts, R. M. J., & Weinstein, S. E. (2023). UNmet: The undergraduate experience of basic need insecurity at an UNcommon university [Doctoral Capstone Project, Virginia Commonwealth University] .

• Taylor, Z. W., Serna, K., Eguiluz, L., & Marois, M. (2023). 'Not impossible to do': Why community college students participate and persist in voluntary financial education programs. Critical Questions in Education, 14(3), 259-278.

• Taylor, Z. W. (2022). Financial Wellness and Financial Literacy Programs in Colleges, Universities, and Higher Education: A Review of the Literature. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4198216 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4198216

• Carrillo-Álvarez, E., Salinas-Roca, B., Costa-Tutusaus, L., Milà-Villarroel, R., & Shankar Krishnan, N. (2021). The measurement of food insecurity in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18), 9829. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189829

• Serna, C. (2021). The Development of Actions for Food and Housing Insecure Students Using Participatory Action Research. (Master’s Thesis, California State University, Stanislaus).

• Nikolaus, C. J., An, R., Ellison, B., & Nickols-Richardson, S. M. (2020). Food insecurity among college students in the United States: A scoping review. Advances in Nutrition, 11(2), 327-348. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz111

• Khosla, N., Gamba, R., Taylor, S., Adediji, L., Bovey, J., Engelman, A., Jones-Bey, A., Lan, T.K., Vo, H., Washington, V.& Inch, E. S. (2020). Academic goal-setting among college students experiencing food insecurity, housing instability, and other challenges in a diverse public university. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 29(1), 3-15. DOI: 10.1080/10530789.2020.1678810

  Weikel, B. (Fall 2019). Strengthening Wellness for Food Insecure Students: Altruism, Spirituality, and Academic Performance (Doctoral dissertation, Old Dominion University).

• Wilder Research. (November 2019). Food Insecurity on College Campuses: A Review of Literature and Perspectives from the Field.

• Southern California Association of Non Profit Housing (SCANPH). (2019). Opportunity Starts at Home: Addressing Housing Insecurity for Underserved L.A. Community College Students. A Special Report for the Los Angeles Community College District.

• Hyatt, S. LePage, N., & Piazza, A. (April 2019). Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness. Perspectives from California’s Community Colleges. California Homeless Youth Project & ACLU Foundations of California.

• Nikolaus, C. J., Ellison, B., & Nickols-Richardson, S. M. (April 2019). Are estimates of food insecurity among college students accurate? Comparison of assessment protocols. PloS one, 14(4), e0215161. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0215161

• Snider, M. (April 8, 2019). Disparities in food and housing run high - Thirty percent of Peralta Students homelessness, according to survey. Laney Tower.

• Assembly Committee on Higher Education (Date of Hearing: April 2, 2019). Assembly Bill Policy Committee Analysis. AB 302 (Berman) - As Amended March 25, 2019..

• Restmeyer, N. & Rose, A. (January 28, 2019) Presentation on Students’ Unmet Basic Needs. Capitol Briefing. Affordability, Food & Housing Access Taskforce, Community College League of California.

• Goldrick-Rab, S. (December 2018). Addressing Community College Completion Rates by Securing Students’ Basic Needs. New Directions For Community Colleges. doi:10.1002/cc.20323

• Affordability, Food & Housing Access Taskforce, Community College League of California. College Resources. Peralta CCD: Student Food & Housing Survey.

• The HOPE Center for College, Community, and Justice. (December 2018). #RealCollege Annotated Bibliography: Basic Needs Insecurity Among College Students.

• California Homeless Youth Project & SchoolHouse Connection (November 2018). 5 Practical Guides to Support Homeless and Low-Income College Students in California. Supporting California’s Homeless & Low-Income College Students: A Practical Guide.

  • CalFresh and Student Hunger: What You Need to Know (October, 2018)

  • Housing Supports for College Students: What You Need to Know (September, 2018)

  • Housing supports Infographic

• Vogt, C. & Leek, D. (August 2018). The Landscape of Student Housing Insecurity and Homelessness: A Survey of Our Network. Campus Compact.

• Restmeyer, N. (July 2018). College Ready, Hungry, and Homeless. An Overview of Basic Needs Insecurity in California’s Public Higher Education System. California State Assembly, Speaker’s Office of Research and Floor Analysis.

• Campus Compact (April 2018). Student Housing Insecurity Annotated Bibliography.

• GoldrickRab, S., Richardson, J., Schneider, J., Hernandez, A., & Cady, C. (April 2018). Still Hungry and Homeless in College. Wisconsin HOPE Lab.

EDUCATION

2017 | Doctor of Education, Educational Leadership | San Francisco State University

2011 | Master of Public Health, Community Health Education | San Francisco State University

2009 | Bachelor of Arts, Public Health | University of California, Berkeley

2007 | Associate in Arts, Sociology | Contra Costa College

CONTACT ME