Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management visited with students and teachers at Coconino High School's culinary arts classes to demonstrate sauce making techniques and share educational and career pathways in the hospitality industry.

Members of NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) got to visit with educators and students at Flagstaff High School's Culinary Arts program to share a unique method for making coffee (Chemex) and discuss career pathways and why HRM is an awesome place to become career ready! 

Coconino County residents have a chance to create the next “I Voted” and “future voter” stickers for the upcoming 2024 elections. The contest is a collaboration between the Associated Students of Northern Arizona University's "NAU Votes! Coalition” and the Coconino County Elections Department.

NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management partnered with the Arizona Anti Trafficking Network's, Safeguarding All From Exploitation (SAFE) Action Project and the Flagstaff Initiative Against Trafficking (FIAT) to host an Isbell Ethics lecture for NAU. Human trafficking is a horrific act that the hospitality industry must be trained in to identify and root out. Out HRM staff and faculty were also trained separately and looked at ways to include this training into our curriculum for students and communicate with our graduates.  

The Zeta Omicron chapter of Sigma Chi at Northern Arizona University (NAU) raised $58,165 for the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The chapter organized a Call-A-Thon event at NAU's Ashurst Hall, with members of the fraternity and other individuals from seven of College Panhellenic Council sororities participating.

Four days of the week, a small group of volunteers gathers at the Hot Spot in the University Union. There, kitchen staff indicate which unused food items are safe to recover, and the volunteers collect, weigh and pack those items for transport. Once gathered, the volunteers deliver this surplus food to a community partner organization such as Sunshine Rescue Mission, where anyone in the community can access homemade meals twice per day.  

HRM is involved in hospitality program site visits with our international accreditation commission, ACPHA, and met with officials and students at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.

On April 5 and 6, dentists with the nonprofit Northern Arizona Dental Days will be at Northern Arizona University's Dental Hygiene Clinic offering free dental care.

Low-income adults aged 21+ who do not have resources for hearing aids and hearing healthcare may be able to receive free hearing healthcare through the ACDHH Hearing Healthcare Assistance Project.

Northern Arizona University's Kappa Alpha fraternity hosted its third annual Rose Bowl fundraiser Saturday to raise money for Special Olympics Arizona.

We have yet to put a human on Mars, but we know a surprising amount about its surface. Telescopes and rovers are responsible for much of that knowledge, but the Earth holds clues about the Red Planet as well. This research focuses on using Earth analogs to understand past and present environments on other planets. This research has taken place in Iceland, Greenland and Arctic Sweden. 

Research focuses broadly on ways to improve health equity through providing culturally appropriate education and resources, training public health practitioners and working with Native nations to document the specific needs of these communities.

Groundbreaking research and programs that helped people with disabilities get the access and tools they needed to get an education, find a job and more. 

The Northern Arizona football team hosted a large group of children with special needs and their families and caregivers to the Walkup Skydome on Friday to participate in a morning celebration of football in the community.

A symposium to build community among women mathematics researchers. An open, inclusive, and safe environment for women to get to know other women in Arizona who complete math research.

Supported by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau and NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, The Northern Arizona Committee of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association hosted an industry mixer event at the High Country Conference Center to engage local hospitality business owners and operators in conversations and opportunities to improve efforts around hospitality excellence.

The Bullhead City School District (BCSD) held a free workshop for parents to understand how to use ParentVue. ParentVue is a Synergy portal that gives parents and students access to grades, assignments, attendance, and communication with teachers.

HRM brought 4 culinary curious students to experience 12 football fields of hospitality innovation at the National Restaurant Associations Restaurant Show in Chicago. 

Native elders are at higher risk for illnesses and more frequently suffer multiple illnesses resulting in more severe health outcomes yet have less access to healthcare services than non-Native people. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) recognized this disparity and developed the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) program that advances scientific discoveries in minority elder health research and provides career development support for early-career scientists.

• Simulation Training: Northern Arizona University (NAU) Emergency Management students participated in a simulation of the Tunnel Fire with Coconino County’s Emergency Management team to gain hands-on experience.
• Realistic Scenarios: The simulation included real-world challenges such as evacuations, shelter setups, and resource management, based on actual events from the Tunnel Fire.
• Collaboration: Students worked alongside professionals from various departments, including the National Weather Service, to understand the complexities of emergency response.
• Educational Goals: The lab aims to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, preparing students for real-world emergency management roles.

We travel to rural community centers across Northern Arizona and provide free brain health workshops and community presentations where we 1) learn and discuss strategies for promoting memory and brain health in daily life, 2) share emerging research from NAU focused on people living with dementia and their caregivers and efforts to address disparities in dementia risk for communities across Northern Arizona, and 3) learn about opportunities to participate in research studies.