Student Financial Education Center: A Library/Student Startup for Financial Literacy

Student Financial Education Center:A Library/Student Startup for Financial

Literacy

Lauren Reiter, Business Liaison Librarian

Penn State University Libraries

Conference for Entrepreneurial Librarians

October 17, 2014

“Startups are organizations dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme

uncertainty.”From Think Like A Startup: a white paper to inspire library entrepreneurialism, by Brian Matthews of Virginia Tech

Startup

Procon.org. (2013). US Student Loan, Credit Card, Auto Loan, & Other Debt, 2004-2013(in billions). Retrieved from http://college-education.procon.org/

Debt Comparison:US Student Loan, Credit Card, Auto Loan, & Other Debt

College students face a variety of financial issues

Student loans

Cost of college

Tuition

Textbooks

Money management

maintaining a budget

handling first credit cardplanning for the future

Money Problems

A multi-campus institution—all one system

24 campuses

95,973 students, as of Fall 2014

Largest campus is University Park

46,606 students, as of Fall 2014

Penn State

“The ability to use knowledge and skills to manage one's financial resources effectively for lifetime

financial security."

Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. National Standards in K–12 Personal Finance Education.

Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy at Penn State

Financial Literacy at Penn State: MoneyCounts

Wilson Hutton, Public Relations and Marketing, Penn State University Libraries

Student approached librarian with novel idea: a peer to peer financial education program in the library

Teach students to serve as Peer Financial Educators

One-on-one assistance

Presentations

Financial Literacy at Penn State:Student Financial Education Center

Benefits of peer to peer education

• More informal than classroom instruction

• Relaxed and comfortable atmosphere

• Easier to relate to fellow students

• Peer educators gain communication and leadership skillsWilson Hutton, Public Relations and

Marketing, Penn State University Libraries

New for libraries, not new elsewhere in higher ed

Some examples

Texas Tech University

Kansas State University

Ohio State University

Models at other universities

• We’ve never done this before

• Lack of financial literacy expertise

Peer to Peer Financial Education and… the Library?

Student space

High traffic area

Other peer to peer models already in use in libraries

Writing tutors

Tech tutors

Student reference assistants

Peer to Peer Financial Education and the Library

Established interest in financial literacy

Reputation for reliability and objectivity

Opportunity to incubate innovative student ideas

Peer to Peer Financial Education and the Library

Student Financial Education Center(SFEC)A partnership between

University Libraries &

University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA)

April-August 2013: Planning

August 2013-December 2013: Training and finalizing documentation

January 2014: Grand opening

Timeline

More partners needed than the 2 primary entities

SFEC supported by faculty and staff in

Commission for Adult Learners

College of Agricultural Sciences

Student Aid

Student Affairs

Collaboration

Startup team consisted of six students

One Student Director who works closely with SFEC advisors and has position in UPUA government

Members of Penn State Finance Society

Working on a volunteer basis

Staffing

Former conference room in business library office suite transformed into SFEC

Equipped with table, chairs, filing cabinets, laptop and shredder

Office hours limited to business library office hours

Space

12-hour training over 2 days developed and led by Dr. Daad Rizk and Dr. Cathy Bowen

• Budgeting

• Credit

• Student loans

All Peer Educators required to pass exam with score of 80% or higher

Personal Finance Curriculum

Money – Savings by 401(K) 2012 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Training developed at request of Risk Management office

Designed and delivered by librarian/SFEC advisor

Incorporated New York Public Library’s Money Matter$ Pro Library Reference Scenarios

Education vs. Advice

Forms required by Risk Management office

Student information form

Biographical data

Consent and release form

Recognizes that Peer educator is not a licensed professional

Will not hold liable

Peer Educator Agreement for

Protect student confidentiality & privacy

Provide education not advice

Risk Management

Marketing & promotion

Website

Flyers

Posters

Social media

Email announcements

Ad in campus newspaper

Post on Onward State

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Support

Space

Students

Weaknesses

Lack of experience

Limitations of office hours

Opportunities

There is a need

Lack of competition

Threats

Unknown demand

Alternative sources for information

Created Financial Education Week in January 2014

Grand opening reception

Three presentations by SFEC Advisors and Peer Educators

Tables in student union for SFEC info distribution and appointment sign up

Grand Opening

Assess and Adjust

Issues

No-shows for appointments

Original training program incompatible with schedules

Revisions

Reminders sent to students the day prior

New training program implemented that spreads learning over a semester

Hard to maintain when business is slow

Return to reasons why Peer Educators joined

To learn

To help others learn

To build skills and resume

To be a part of something from the beginning

Student Engagement

Increase number of presentations to increase number of appointments

Parents & Families Weekend

Lion Ambassadors

Other student organizations

First year seminars

Outreach Activities

MoneyCounts: A Financial Literacy Series

Promote

Co-present

Collaborate and Partner

Currently have 9 Peer Educators

Staffing and space meets needs…for now

Have done tweaks to adjust to the unexpected but need overall program evaluation

Growth

Questions?

Lauren Reiter

Business Liaison Librarian

Penn State University Libraries

lmr29@psu.edu

Thank you!