At the University of Houston, Simone Doudna and Frank Kelley each work
within their colleges to promote financial education to their students. Using a
variety of programming and courses, students are able to learn about personal
finance in a number of ways, and at a variety of depths.
At the University of Houston Bauer College of Business, Kelley
serves as associate dean of Undergraduate Business Programs. The college offers
several different ways to engage in financial education, ranging from workshops
to an academic track.
“We hired a professor to teach a personal financial planning
course. In addition, we developed a series of courses and a track within the
Finance major for personal financial planning. The track even fulfills the
education requirements for the
CFP® Certification Examination administered by the College of Financial Planning.”
The college utilizes students who are involved in the academic
track to provide workshops to other students. This gives the students
experience with giving presentations while also sharing essential financial
education with other students.
Much like the introduction to personal finance course in the
Bauer College of Business, Doudna has taught a financial education component
into two courses—developed through exploratory studies, and one as a
professional development course in the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant
Management. Doudna, who serves as instructional assistant professor in the
college, says that financial education was a key component that they recently
incorporated.
“For two years, the professional development curriculum
committee collaborated to ensure we have the most innovative program with 21
st
century skills for our students. Financial literacy was one of the resonating
themes.”
Doudna was introduced to CashCourse by Kelley earlier this
year, and shared that it has been helpful amidst the university transitioning
to virtual learning.
“I gained access to CashCourse just before spring break, and
we never came back to campus. [CashCourse] was such a godsend because it is all
online and I was able to deliver all the content and monitor the progress
online. Even without the global [COVID-19] pandemic, online learning is
certainly one of the trends of the future of education. It worked out well with
students, and there were wonderful responses from students because it is
self-paced and they can be selective in the topics that are impactful to their
personal financial empowerment. [CashCourse] has been very adaptable in both
courses.”
Doudna utilizes digital badging to promote financial
education to students, as well. “CashCourse is promoted as a digital badge, and
our software integrates with LinkedIn… we market it to students by making it
something that is not only relevant to themselves, but also to their
marketability in the workplace with the goal that it will be integrated on
their LinkedIn profiles.”
With a student population of 46,000, not every student takes
classes in personal finance. Kelley shares that the Bauer College of Business has
struggled to garner general student interest without a dedicated money
management center, like some other large Texas schools have. To prevent
financial education from being siloed in the College of Business, Kelley has
worked with the University of Houston’s libraries to promote financial
education resources on the library’s website.
“There is a direct link to CashCourse on this resource page.
All of the links are governmental or nonprofit, so there’s no hidden agenda.”
Financial education is also promoted to students through a
variety of programs throughout the university, such as the Emerging Leaders
Academic Success Program for freshmen, which incorporates a financial literacy
workshop. Each year, the University also brings over two thousand middle and
high school students from the surrounding area to campus. Students learn about
personal finance through programs such as the Texas Reality Check and the Stars
of Tomorrow Excellence Program.
Kelley says, “We’re trying to reach students earlier,
because many students do not go to college because…they may not know the
resources available to them. We have grants and loans, but students do not know
the process. It’s critical for us to get the next generation of
first-generation students into a pipeline of financial empowerment early.”
Kelley emphasizes that his College prefers the term
financial empowerment, which gives this work and education a positive
connotation. Both Kelley and Doudna shared their belief that financial
education is critical to student success. Doudna says, “I do not think it is
possible to learn as effectively when you have obstacles as a student such as
financial constraints.” Both Doudna and Kelley share an inspiring mission to
empower their students while they are enrolled and prepare them for life
post-college.
April 2020