Classification: Private career school.

Modules Used:

• Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students.
• Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in School and Graduate on Time.

How Used:

• New-student orientation.
• Workshop series.

Program Description: After a campus presentation by a USA Funds^® representative, the executive committee at the Art Institute of Phoenix decided that USA Funds Life Skills^® might be appropriate to incorporate with certain existing student programs and services, including the new-student orientation. Accordingly, the student counselor incorporated the money-management materials from USA Funds Life Skills Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students in a budgeting workshop that she offers each quarter to entering students. Students are encouraged to develop their own personal budgets following the workshop. Academic-management materials from Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in School and Graduate on Time are incorporated in an overview of study skills, test taking, library services and other academic resources as part of an introduction to campus resources provided by both student affairs and academic affairs. Additionally, the student counselor uses materials from both modules in a quarterly series of single-topic workshops that address time management, study and test-taking skills, budgeting and stress management.

Staffing Requirements: The student counselor delivers Modules 1 and 3 during new-student orientation and the single-topic workshops offered each quarter.

Recommendations: Finding ways to incorporate USA Funds Life Skills into existing programs and services is a good starting point for any campus. At the Art Institute of Phoenix, Modules 1 and 3 complemented existing information already provided in the new-student orientation and the workshops offered each quarter. The counselor notes that USA Funds Life Skills materials can be adjusted to fit the specific needs of students. To maximize the impact of each module, the campus unit with expertise in the topics being addressed should be encouraged to participate in the presentation. In the end, student engagement with the materials is key to student learning. Therefore, every effort must be made to encourage active student involvement in the session.

Campus Contact:
Sarah Smoger, Counselor in Student Affairs
Phone: (602) 331-7589
E-mail: ssmoger@aii.com