Centers for Social Policy and Evaluation Research

The College of Social Sciences an Interdisciplinary Studies has a long history of involvement in social policy-oriented research and instruction. That history and the College's current roster of talented researchers and instructors have placed SSIS at the forefront of the University's efforts to direct its resources more systematically toward regional development needs and issues. Thus, the College has been building partnerships with area agencies and organizations to structure programs with social policy emphases and to provide systematic evaluation of those programs' effects. We have been introducing regional policy-oriented themes into our curriculum. We seek to involve our students in our research projects in order to provide them with the skills necessary to careers in the broad social and business development and professional arena. We hope to produce, during the coming decades, cohorts of well-educated, policy-oriented, and research-skilled professionals who will keep the Sacramento Region on the cutting edge of growth and development issues.

As is clear below, a number of program and research centers and institutes now constitute SSIS's Centers for Social Policy and Evaluation Research. Though each has a somewhat different focus, all share obvious interests: Each seeks to join with regional agencies and organizations to develop proposals for funding from foundation and government sources for community-related projects. Each also is able on its own to provide a wide array of research-related services: grant writing and proposal development, sampling plans, programming expertise, data analysis, program evaluation strategies.

Please feel free to contact the directors of any of these centers and institutes with questions about their services or with ideas about how the SSIS Centers for Social Policy and Evaluation Research can further its mission to serve the Sacramento region

Archaeological Research Center: The principal focus is to facilitate faculty and student research via funding obtained from contracts and grants. The center brings together considerable individual and team expertise in the management of cultural resources throughout California and the western Great Basin.

Center for California Studies: The Center for California Studies is a public service, educational support, and applied research institute of California State University, Sacramento. It is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of California's government, politics, peoples, cultures and history. Founded in 1984 and located on the capital campus of the California State University, the Center possesses a unique trust: to bring the resources of the state's largest university system to the service of public discourse, civic education and state government.

Center for Collaborative Policy: The CCP's mission is to build the capacity of public agencies, stakeholder groups, and the public to use collaborative strategies to improve policy outcomes. Some of the strategic goals for this organization are to enhance the existing capacity of governing institutions and communities, to create and share knowledge about collaborative public policy development and capacity building, enhance the collaborative policy and civic engagement network across the state and to continue to enhance the Center's internal organizational capacity and provide opportunities for practitioners' professional growth. Services provided by the Center are Collaborative Policy and Conflict Resolution, Collaborative Public Involvement and organizational, training and research services.

Center for Delinquency and Crime Policy Studies (CDCPS): CDCPS, operating since August, 1998, brings an interdisciplinary focus to issues in juvenile delinquency and crime. At present, the disciplines included in CDCPS's policy, program development, and outcome evaluation studies are anthropology, education, and sociology.

CDCPS projects are national, statewide and regional in perspective. Two projects are currently being managed within the framework of the Center. The Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) is a nationally based research and development project that has technical assistance responsibility for demonstration sites in three states. It is expected that activities in the area of intensive juvenile aftercare will expand during the next several years via the provision of training and technical assistance to sites in additional states. This project is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. More information can be found at Johns Hopkins University, Institute for Policy Studies web site.

Center for Economic Education: The Center is one of nearly 100 university centers affiliated with the National Council on Economic Education. The objective of the center at CSUS is to improve the economic literacy of current and future citizens of the Greater Sacramento Area by providing educational and training programs and materials for teachers of K-16 classes. The Center assists and encourages teachers in their efforts to teach the economic concepts needed by future citizens to become well-informed voters, wise consumers, and effective producers. It is part of a nationwide network of state councils and over 260 university-based centers called EconomicsAmerica that is run by the NCEE.

Center for Family Studies: The mission of the Center is to promote the well-being of families and family members by providing direct services to the community through parent education and support, developmentally appropriate learning environments and activities for children and family and consumer education. The Center supports research on child development and children's issues and family and consumer issues.

Center for Pacific Asian Studie s: The program in Pacific Asian Studies is administered through the Center for Pacific Asian Studies. The Center is composed of designated faculty in the departments of Anthropology, Art, Communication Studies, Education, Ethnic Studies, Foreign Languages, Geography, Government, International Business, Home Economics, History, Philosophy, Humanities and Sociology. The Program Committee, comprised of the Major and Minor Advisors for each Concentration and the Director of the Center, oversees the Pacific Asian Studies Program.

The Center also serves to support and facilitate various university activities related to furthering our understanding of the Pacific Asian region: faculty research, sponsoring summer training institutes, travel and residential programs in Pacific Asia, seminars for faculty, students and the community, and establishing collaborative links with institutions and community groups.

Longevity Center: The Center was established to aid students in achieving educational, research, and service goals. The Center concept also serves to stimulate faculty research and teaching in the field of gerontology and related studies. Center functions include:

providing a forum for idea exchanges between students, faculty, alumni and the community
serving as an information center
stimulating research
coordinating seminars and conferences
providing a liaison between the campus, legislative and service bodies
developing resources for support of student and faculty research; and
establishing and maintaining campus-community networks which facilitate transition of students to employment and service.

Additionally, the Center helps students by:

providing employment for students in roles which support Center goals
encouraging student research by providing grants to cover some of their research expenses
assisting students in professional development
providing for the publication of student-faculty cooperative research; and
promoting faculty development in the field of gerontology studies.

For more information about participating or contributing to the Gerontology Center and its programs, please call 278-7163.

Institute of Archaeological and Cultural Studies :The Institute includes numerous Centers as well as the Museum of Anthropology.

Institute for County Government: The Institute is a joint venture partnership between the California State Association of Counties and the CSUS Program in Public Policy and Administration designed to provide credible and reliable applied research information pertaining to county government and related issues.

Institute for Social Research Established in 1989, ISR is an interdisciplinary center that provides the full range of research services to federal, state, and local agencies, non-profit organizations, as well as the university and its faculty. These services include program evaluation, needs assessment, time or workload studies, descriptive surveys (by mail, phone, personal interview and laptop computer), and compilation and secondary analysis of existing data such as the U.S. Census, other governmental and social science data bases and internal organizational data. The Institute supports instruction by offering student assistantships and hourly employment which provide training and practical experience in research techniques, including sampling, interview and questionnaire construction, data management and statistical skills, supervisory responsibility, and written, tabular and graphic presentation of results.

The Serna Center: The Serna Center at California State University, Sacramento held its Grand Opening in the Spring of 2003, and is dedicated to the work and vision of the late Mayor and Government Professor Joe Serna and the late University administrator and Ethnic Studies Professor, Isabel Hernandez-Serna.

Located in California's capital, the Center's proximity to the California Legislature, other state and federal government agencies, and numerous community-based organizations present unlimited opportunities for faculty and students to participate in numerous joint projects.

The Center will sponsor reports and studies, conferences and workshops, internships, and social and cultural programs with a focus on Latinos living in the Sacramento Metropolitan Area.

The Latino Population has increased dramatically in this area from 12 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 2000. This increase has public policy implications in the areas of the arts, education, employment, health, and immigration. The role of the Center is to report on the conditions of Latinos in the region and to make public policy recommendations for consideration by public and private agencies.