About UConn HNS

UConn Husky Nutrition & Sport operates as a campus-community partnership striving towards:

  • right relationships
  • shared learning
  • equity-focused values and practices
  • relevant and representative engagement and education
  • the enhancement of individual and systemic level opportunities supporting healthy lifestyles

UConn HNS is a U.S. Department of Agriculture, AmeriCorps, small local foundation, and private donation funded effort to engage in nutrition and physical activity education alongside youth, adult caregivers of children, and adults eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Education (SNAP-Ed). Sustained and new collaborative partnerships and educational programs are facilitated within the City of Hartford and across the state of Connecticut.

UConn HNS is housed in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Participating university stakeholders work across disciplines and communities as part of collaborative partnerships and direct education programs. UConn HNS provides structured opportunities for engagement via academic courses, paid-positions, professional and holistic development sessions, and research.

Relationships

reciprocal campus-community partnerships built on respect and “right” relationships, where one treats individuals as equal authorities on their own lives. In doing so, we challenge inequitable individual behaviors and social structures.

Relevancy

programs and partnerships designed based on the specific needs and interests of participants, in alignment with SNAP-Ed guidance, to support nutrition and physical activity education and engagement across the lifespan.

Representation

talented partners, college students, and staff with diverse identities and experiences working in collaboration and towards enhanced equity-focused values and practices as engaged professionals and community members.

Foundational Frameworks

Campus Community Partnership

Too often is the case where campus-community partnerships are based upon a model that operates with university stakeholders as experts approaching communities as problems to fix (Boyer, 1990). Specific examples of inequitable collaboration have been observed in decision-making and short term programs driven by funding and its accompanying rules (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002). Instead, working groups with stakeholders of diverse identities and roles, can operate within a web of active relationships and partnerships with complex dynamics that require effective management and on-going analysis (Sandy & Holland, 2006; Dotterweich, 2006; Walsh, 2006). 

Learn more about our Campus Community Partnership framework

Communities of Practice

UConn HNS looks to capitalize on the benefits of cultivating communities of practice as a vehicle for formal professional development on UConn’s campus and alongside partners in Hartford and across the state of Connecticut.

Communities of practice are everywhere; in our workplaces, schools, and within social settings (Clayton & Cuddapah, 2011). In some we are core members and have a voice in determining the direction of the community, while in others we are on the sidelines occupying the role of the observer, taking in information with less of an active role, but still feeling influenced by our participation in the community of practice. The primary focus of community of practice as a concept is on learning as social participation, looking at participation as engagement in events and certain activities (practice) with certain people (community), but also as the process of being active participants in practices of a social community and constructing identities in relation to these communities (Wenger, 1998).

Learn more about our Communities of Practice framework

Critical Service Learning

Critical Service Learning informs collaborative partnerships and shared learning between community participants, partners, professional staff, and college students. Rather than engaging in service and engagement with a savior mentality, critical service learning focuses on authentic relationship building, a social change orientation, and working to redistribute power among diverse participants (Mitchell, 2008).

Citations: Mitchell, 2008; Add more when ready; What is Critical Service Learning?; Building Relationships for Critical Service Learning; Critical Information Literacy and Critical Service Learning

USDA MyPlate

UConn HNS utilizes the MyPlate framework to guide direct education curriculums and engagements with community members. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created MyPlate, an easy-to-follow food guide, to help parents to figure out how to feed their kids nutritious, balanced meals.

The colorful divided plate includes sections for vegetables, fruits, grains, and protein foods. MyPlate's user-friendly, interactive website provides simple messages, such as:

  • choose variety — the best meals have a balance of items from different food groups
  • fill half your child's plate with vegetables and fruits
  • make at least half the grains you serve whole grains, like oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice
  • serve fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk and water rather than sugary drinks
  • don't serve oversized portions

Social Ecological Model

The social ecological model is a framework that examines how multiple levels of influence interact to shape individual and community behaviors. It consists of five interconnected layers: the individual, interpersonal relationships, community and organizational factors, societal norms, and government policies. This model helps understand how these factors contribute to health and well-being, making it a valuable tool in public health and social science research.

Sport Based Youth Development

Husky Sport employs the conceptual and practical components of the Sport Based Youth Development (SBYD) framework to inform stakeholder teaching and learning within a campus-community partnership. Working to provide a larger system of support for youth development and youth development practitioners, SBYD outlines an avenue for positive relationship building and collaborative network development amongst diverse community members (Sherry, Karg, & O’May, 2011; Smith & Westerbeck, 2007).  With sport as an initial hook (Perkins & Noam, 2007) for shared participation in physical activity, Husky Sport programs and partnerships also engage curriculum focused on youth attainment of knowledge and application of healthy nutrition, transferable life skills, and academic enrichment.

Learn more about our Sport Based Youth Development framework

Two college students lead elementary school students in stretching exercises outside.
UConn Husky Nutrition & Sport Receives $4.9M in Federal Funding

The renewal of USDA funding will support the initiative for the next three years

A group of high school students gather with Neag School and East Hartford Public Schools' educators and administrators.
Neag School Expands its Early College Experience Courses, Allowing High School Students to Explore Careers in Education

More than 350 students from 21 partner schools were enrolled in the Neag School’s ECE courses in 2022-2023, an increase from 201 students in five districts the year before. 

A college student and teacher stand at the front of a classroom, facing a group of elementary students sitting on the floor and raising their hands.
Twenty Years of Nutrition and Physical Education in Connecticut’s Communities

UConn Husky Nutrition & Sport, a merger of two SNAP-Ed programs, launches new website and sets high goals for its next phase of community and campus engagement

New USDA Grant Combines SNAP-Ed Programs to Promote Reach and Depth

The newly combined Husky Programs will continue promoting healthy lifestyles for SNAP recipients throughout the state.