Classification: Four-year public college or university; Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Modules Used: Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students.

How Used: New-student orientation.

Program Description: New-student orientation at CSU-Dominguez Hills includes an introduction to debt management and financial literacy. The associate vice president for student life says his goal is to get students thinking about their financial situation early enough to avert financial crises after they enroll. He uses USA Funds Life Skills^® Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students in one of the orientation workshops to discuss debt reduction, with a special focus on the potential challenges of excessive reliance on credit cards. The key to influencing these students is getting them actively engaged in the dialogue. He creates a competitive environment with a series of needs-versus-wants questions and a guessing game built around interest accrued on credit-card debt.

Staffing Requirements: The associate vice president of student life delivers Module 1 during new-student orientation.

Recommendations: According to the associate vice president for student life, the first requirement for successful implementation of the program is that it must be interactive. During orientation, there are many topics competing for the students' attention. The associate vice president for student life stresses the importance of personalizing the information, even with his six groups of 200 students. The USA Funds Life Skills Module 1 student skills book lends itself to extensive student engagement. Additionally, he finds the language and the examples highly relevant for today's students.

Campus Contact:
Randy Zarn, Associate Vice President for Student Life
Phone: (310) 243-3784
E-mail: rzarn@csudh.edu