Joyce Munsch
Professor

Brief Biography

Dr. Munsch came to Cal State Northridge in Fall 2002 to become the founding chair of the new Department of Child and Adolescent Development. Dr. Munsch administered the Jumpstart for Young Children Program at Cal State Northridge for eleven years before her retirement. Jumpstart hires college students who are eligible for work study and trains them to work in preschools that serve economically-disadvantaged children. The goal of Jumpstart is to get every child ready to succeed in school, and it works toward this goal through focusing on early literacy and school readiness skills. Jumpstart Northridge enrolls 40 students annually in this program. In 2005, Dr. Munsch received the CSUN Visionary Community Service Learning Award in recognition of her "outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the betterment of students and the community through service learning."
Dr. Munsch's research focuses on adolescent social networks and how adolescents cope with stress in their lives, particularly the stress associated with school transitions. She also conducts research that examines adolescents' relationships with naturally-occurring mentors. She has 19 publications in peer-reviewed journals and dozens of presentations at both national and international meetings.

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