Public Health faculty member receives Texas A&M University 2025 Community Engagement Award

Selina Stasi, DrPH, an instructional assistant professor in Texas A&M University School of Public Health’s Department of Health Behavior, is the recipient of the university’s 2025 Community Engagement Award. Stasi was one of two Texas A&M faculty members selected for this award and was recognized during the university’s 2025 Staff and Student Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 16.

This award was created in 2023 by the Texas A&M Student Government Association in collaboration with the Office of the President Community Engagement to recognize individual students, faculty and staff who display outstanding selfless service through volunteerism. These honorees are also selected based on their dedication to improving local and university communities as part of Texas A&M’s mission as a land-grant institution.

Stasi’s colleagues recognize her deep commitment to involving community partners in her work to underscore the real complexities and challenges related to public health initiatives.

“Dr. Stasi connects students with community partners for semester-long service projects, creating hands-on learning experiences that bridge classroom concepts—such as non-medical drivers of health and systems thinking—with real-world application,” said Maria Roque, DrPH, an instructional assistant professor who nominated Stasi for the award. “By leveraging the university’s greatest asset—its students—she empowers both learners and resource-strained organizations.”

Life-long commitment to community

Stasi’s commitment to community began during childhood, which she spent in California and Hawaii. With her parents dealing with their own significant personal issues, Stasi grew up depending on the community for help.

“My mom was a big advocate for me, and her life was dedicated to making sure that the both of us—but especially me—could be successful,” she said. “She became a pillar for me, but how she frames it is that I was her reason to live. So that type of advocacy and passion towards something other than yourself—that service—was embedded in me without even knowing it from the very beginning. And although it was hard for her, she eventually let others love on me and provide the care and resources that she could not.”

As the first person in her family to attend college, Stasi earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Asian American studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dedicated to exploring her Native Hawaiian ancestry, Stasi also became involved with the greater Los Angeles area advocacy efforts for Pacific Islanders.

“I wanted to be a voice for others,” she explained.

Stasi continued her education at the University of Miami in Florida, where she earned a master’s degree in public health. At the same time, she started exploring and advocating for the importance of physical exercise as a way to channel anger and trauma.

Stasi returned to Hawaii to begin her doctorate but ended up following her advisor, Jay Maddock, PhD, to the Texas A&M School of Public Health in August 2015. In addition to her Texas A&M studies, Stasi worked as a graduate research assistant.

All her higher education experiences, along with her dissertation, entitled, “Access to Physical Activity in Low-Income and Ethnic Minority Communities,” reinforced her belief in the social aspect of public health, especially in relation to the determinants of health as a way to create a sustainable community.

Putting into practice

After completing her doctorate, Stasi joined the School of Public Health’s faculty in August 2018. A self-described non-traditional academic faculty member, Stasi regularly draws from her early life experience to guide her work.

“The interwoven fabric of my lived experience has laid the groundwork for developing innovative pedagogical approaches that bridge the gap between theory and practice to make a positive impact on my students and community,” she said.

She has embedded service projects into three of her courses. As a result, students have the opportunity to engage in semester-long public health-oriented service projects that enhance student learning, increase awareness of the wide-ranging impact of public health, and provide vital support to resource-limited organizations. These efforts have led to the launch of awareness campaigns on issues ranging from food insecurity to domestic violence, facilitation of fundraising efforts, construction of stakeholder networks, and the undertaking of health research related to underserved populations.

Stasi’s classes believe they have benefited from this approach.

“Her commitment to community engagement has inspired me and many of my peers to take active roles in service initiatives that address pressing local health and social issues,” said Rylie Rundell, a graduate student and teaching assistant in the School of Public Health. “Through her guidance and leadership, students have been able to participate in outreach programs, gain hands-on experience in community health education, and contribute to meaningful projects that promote well-being and equity.”

Stasi’s creation of community partnership is a result of her wide-ranging connections and willingness to pursue opportunities that lead to new relationships with a wide range of organizations. Additionally, she uses a strength-based approach which invites partners to maximize what they have in common and then build on those traits.

As a result, Stasi has collaborated with more than 30 other community organizations—including the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), Southern Cross Service Dogs, Scotty’s House, The Bridge Ministries, Community Pain Network, and Elizabeth House Maternity Home—that provide vital health and social services to vulnerable communities.  She has also partnered with global organizations such as Rose Academies, Acts of Mercy, and Food, Education and Enriched Diets (FEED).

Her work with these non-profits has led to increased organizational capacity, grant management, program planning and evaluation.

“Through her partnerships with SARC, she has helped amplify resources that provide crisis intervention, counseling and advocacy for those affected by sexual violence, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to social justice and community well-being, not just at Texas A&M University, but across the entire Brazos County,” Rundell said.

Stasi said she thrives on the opportunity to help develop the next generation of advocates and encourages her students to seek out these types of internships, mentors and career opportunities. She has seen some of her former students step into careers and service with public health advocacy groups after graduation.

One of her proudest achievements has been influencing her own grandmother, Susan Stasi, to return to school and then to start Rose Academies, a global nonprofit that is now a United Nations Affiliate. As a result, the younger Stasi has assigned some of her students to work with Rose Academies on projects, including creating disease prevention storybooks for its clients, who encompass the rural poor of Uganda. Additionally, Texas A&M graduate students have worked with the nonprofit to conduct research on important global health issues.

Now, with the Community Engagement Award in hand, the School of Public Health faculty member feels that her approach to academia has been validated and will provide a springboard to increase her reach and impact.

“This award is so meaningful for me because I question whether I am practicing what I preach and having an impact, so it’s cool to be seen,” she said. “It also helps me look at myself differently by making my work feel valid and authentic, and that it has integrity.”