Providing for a Community: How a Basic Needs Center uses Assessment to House Students

Abstract

In this article, we use a narrative approach to tell the experiences of students who sought Emergency Housing Assistance through the Basic Needs Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. Leaders of the Center continually use quantitative and qualitative assessment practices to improve their services to benefit students. The actions this Center takes can be applied to universities across the country in gaining necessary housing resources for students through data collection and dissemination. We show how equity-centered data from assessment practices can improve student health and well-being.