New Research and Collaborative Opportunities for
CHIP Affiliates – School and Child Health
Sandra M Chafouleas,
Professor & Associate Dean
for Research,
Neag School of Education
E Carol Polifroni,
Professor of Nursing &
Director of the Office for
Public Engagement
CHIP Annual Meeting
September 10, 2015
Why “School and Child” Health?
• Collaboration across
education and health
sectors is necessary to
accomplish child well-being
• Modeled from the ASCD /
CDC joint initiative: Whole
School, Whole Community,
Whole Child (WSCC)
framework
• Collaborative research is
critical toward informing
coordinated policy,
processes, and practices
connected with the 10
components of coordinated
school health
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/wscc/index.htm
Mission
The mission of the Collaboratory on School and
Child Health (CSCH) is to facilitate innovative
research in school and child health. CSCH serves
as a central resource to university and external
partners engaged in research efforts that inform
healthy, safe, supporting, and engaging
environments for all children.
Goals – Adapted from CHIP
Goal 1: CSCH will provide an interdisciplinary nexus for investigators across the University of
Connecticut to stimulate multidisciplinary collaborations and major new funded research initiatives
in school and child health.
• Objectives: To bring together research efforts in school and child health, facilitating (a)
efficient internal communications about current areas of individual work, (b) broader
dissemination of these efforts under the CSCH collective, and (c) networking opportunities
to connect around potential common research interests.
Goal 2: CSCH will undertake research to create new scientific knowledge, theoretical frameworks,
and methodological advances in the areas of school and child health. This work will focus on
understanding the dynamics of health behavior and related systems, the science of health behavior
change, and the science and practice of developing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating
effective interventions with community partners.
• Objectives: To foster innovative research that advances evidence about healthy, safe,
supporting, and engaging environments for all children, including (a) forging new crossdisciplinary research collaborations, (b) building partnerships with external stakeholders
interested in answering pressing questions of practice, and (c) engaging in large data
analyses with a lens on policy implications.
Goals – Adapted from CHIP
Goal 3: CSCH will share its expertise in school and child health with community partners and
relevant local, state, national, and international organizations.
• Objectives: To establish a recognized source of expertise in school and child health, with
information presented via user-friendly, engaging digital communication strategies for a
variety of contexts and audiences.
Goal 4: CSCH researchers will educate and mentor undergraduate students, graduate students,
postdoctoral scholars, researchers, faculty, community members, and others in the science,
engaged scholarship, and practice of school and child health.
• Objectives: To establish a locally and nationally-recognized resource for educational
training materials on school and child health.
Goal 5: CSCH will take a leadership role in fostering a team science approach among University
of Connecticut research scientists, clinicians, and selected community partners in building the
evidence around prevention, risk reduction, and intervention strategies that promote healthy,
safe, supporting, and engaging environments for all children.
• Objectives: To establish CSCH as a recognized model for team science in school and child
health.
Organizational Structure
Co-Directors:
Chafouleas & Polifroni
Steering Committee:
Jennifer Bruening, Professor and Department Head in EDLR & Executive Director of Husky Sport (Neag)
Deborah Cornman, Associate Director of CHIP
Jennifer Dineen, Director of the Graduate Program in Survey Research in the Dept of Public Policy (CLAS)
Lindsey DiStefano, Assistant Professor in Kinesiology (CAHNR)
Anne Farrell, Associate Professor in HDFS & Director of the Center for Applied Research (CLAS)
Michelle Femc-Bagwell, Assistant Professor in Residence in EDLR & Director of CommPACT (Neag)
Kathryn Libal, Associate Professor in Policy Practice (Social Work)
Ruth Lucas, Assistant Professor in Nursing
Amy Mobley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences (CAHNR)
Kerri Raissian, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Policy (CLAS)
Ron Sabatelli, Professor and Dept Head in Human Development and Family Studies (CLAS)
Lisa H. Sanetti, Associate Professor in Educational Psychology (Neag)
Marlene Schwartz, Director of the Rudd Center (CHIP)
Upcoming Events to Note
• Oct 1 – CHIP Lecture Series: Mark Weist on interconnecting school and
community systems
• Oct 10 – Huskies Forever Weekend: “Contemporary Conversations” panel
on mental well-being
• Nov 6 – FOA: CHIP-Neag School of Education Dual-PI Seed Grants
• Nov 12 – CSCH social networking event
• April 1 – Application deadline: CHIP-Neag School of Education Dual-PI Seed
Grants
• And many more to come… aligned with the activities and outcomes
identified for each goal in Year 1
Questions, Comments, Contact
Sandra M Chafouleas, Neag School
of Education
Sandra.Chafouleas@uconn.edu
E Carol Polifroni, Office of Public
Engagement
Carol.Polifroni@uconn.edu