OATdb Archive

2012 - 2013

Money Management Center

Goal
Effective Personal Finance Outreach
The Student Money Management Center will provide effective personal finance outreach programming.

Objective
Increase Student Knowledge Of Personal Finance Through Outreach Programming
The Student Money Management Center will increase students’ knowledge of personal finance-related topics.


Indicator
Program Assessment Surveys
The program assessment results for specified activities will serve as evidence of the successful completion of this objective.


Criterion
Student Knowledge Increased Through Classroom Outreach
Students who attend classroom presentations and classroom workshops provided by the Student Money Management Center will increase their knowledge of specific personal finance topics by attending. At least 80% of students who attend classroom presentations and classroom workshops will indicate a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the program.  This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Student Money Management Center’s outreach programming on student learning of personal finance topics


Finding
Classroom Assessment
The Student Money Management Center made financial literacy presentations in twenty-seven classrooms during the 2012-2013 academic year.  Of the 640 students surveyed, 91% indicated a specific piece of personal financial knowledge was learned by attending the program.


Criterion
Student Knowledge Increased Through Outreach Programming Events
At least 80% of students who attend Student Money Management Center provided outreach events such as monthly workshops, will  indicate a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the program.  This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Student Money Management Center’s outreach programming on student learning of personal finance topics.


Finding
Outreach Programming Event Results
SMMC developed and presented ten workshops in the 2012-2013 Academic Year.  Of the 110 students surveyed, 89% indicated a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the workshops.


Criterion
Student Knowledge Increased Through Financial Literacy Week Event
At least 80% of students who attend Financial Literacy Week 2013, will indicate a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the program.  This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Student Money Management Center’s outreach programming on student learning of personal finance topics presented during the week.


Finding
Financial Literacy Workshop Results
During Financial Literacy Week, the Student Money Management Center conducted fourteen workshops.  Of the 512 students surveyed, 74% indicated a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the Financial Literacy Workshops.


Action
Expansion Of Topics
Though the results indicated a high level of effectiveness on student learning in our current programming, the Texas State legislature added some additional topics that need to be taught to students. Home, auto and health insurance programs need to be developed to educate the students.


Goal
Effective Personal Finance Counseling Services
The Student Money Management Center will provide effective personal finance counseling services to Sam Houston State University students.

Objective
Increase Student Knowledge Of Personal Finance During One-on-One Consultations
The Student Money Management Center’s personal one-on-one counseling sessions will increase students’ knowledge of personal finance related topics.


Indicator
Consultation Survey
The consultation assessment results will serve as evidence of the successful completion of this objective.


Criterion
Student Knowledge Increased Through Peer Counseling Consultations
At least 80% of students will be able to name at least one personal finance topic they learned during their one-on-one consultation with Student Money Management Center peer financial counselors.  This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Center’s peer consultation services on student learning.


Finding
Peer Counseling Results
In the 2012-2013 Academic Year, the Student Money Management Center Peer Counselors collected twelve student surveys.  Of the twelve students, 100% indicated a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the counseling session.

Criterion
Student Knowledge Increased Through Professional Counseling Consultations
At least 80% of students will be able to name at least one personal finance topic they learned during their one-on-one consultation with Student Money Management Center professional financial counselors.  This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Center’s professional consultation services on student learning

Finding
Professional Counseling Results
In the 2012-2013 Academic Year, the Student Money Management Center Professional Counselors collected twenty-eight student surveys. Of the twenty-eight students, 100% indicated a specific piece of personal finance knowledge they learned by attending the counseling session.


Action
Quantity Of Personal Counseling Sessions
The SMMC objective has been met; however, only twenty-eight students were counseled in the fiscal year.  The center needs to work to increase the number of student counseling sessions.

Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

The SMMC utilized social media (https://www.facebook.com/SHSU.SMMC?ref=hl#!/SHSU.SMMC/posts/10151464693075326 to ask for student input regarding preferred topics. Although there were over 400 views of the question, students did not respond. Further review indicates that this inquiry might not be advantageous to the Student Money Management Center. Texas Senate Bill 1590; Texas Education Code 51.305 indicates that topics that should be covered are: avoiding and eliminating credit card debt; understanding the rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; managing money to make the transition from renting a home to home ownership; starting a small business; being a prudent investor in the stock market and using other investment options; beginning a savings program; bankruptcy; the types of bank accounts available to consumers and the benefits of maintaining a bank account; balancing a checkbook; the types of loans available to consumers and becoming a low-risk borrower; and the use of insurance as a means of protecting against financial risk. These topics should be the primary focus of the educational topics presented by the center.

The Student Money Management Center did implement a new methodology for ensuring students completed survey cards after personal financial counseling. The counselor exits the room and the student completes the survey in the counseling office. This plan was implemented and appears to have been successful. In the 2011-2012 Academic Year, only twelve surveys were collected. In the Academic Year 2012-2013, forty student surveys were administered and collected.

Plan for continuous improvement As a result of the outreach and classroom presentations, the majority of students who attended were able to indicate at least one specific piece of information they learned by attending. However a weakness emerged in the data collected from the Financial Literacy Week workshops.  The Healthy Meals on a Dime workshop received high ratings; however, the remarks about increased learning were primarily regarding health issues and habits versus an increase in financial literacy.  A financial literacy workshop presentation checklist needs to be developed and implemented to assess the presentation and ensure the link is established between the subject topic and how it can affect personal finances.  For example, poor health means increased medical expenses.  The learning objective of the financial literacy workshop should be the need to maintain healthy habits to reduce major health risks and potential financial instability due to high medical bills. 

Sam Houston State University | A Member of The Texas State University System