Classification: Four-year public college or university.
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: Freshman-success courses.
Program Description: Upon learning about USA
Funds® Life Skills® at a training workshop, the director
of undergraduate-success programs discussed with the associate vice president
for curriculum and academic programs the use of the program at WSU. A
three-credit elective course offered by every college within the university,
Introduction to the University, was identified as a potential venue for two of
the modules, Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for
Students and Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in
School and Graduate on Time.
The course instructors were asked to review the two modules and decide if
they wanted to use them in their respective courses. Half of the group decided
to do so, indicating that Module 1 was superior to the information offered in
their textbooks. Module 3 is used primarily to supplement the information
presented in the textbook.
Each instructor has the latitude to customize the use of these modules. For
example, students in one class complete the skills book and then break into
small groups for discussion. Another class is structured entirely around small
groups. All sessions are highly interactive and lend themselves to personal
sharing. For example, the director of undergraduate-success programs has her
students break into small groups to discuss their personal money-saving
strategies and then report back to the entire group.
Staffing Requirements: Instructors deliver Modules 1 and 3
in their respective sections of the freshman-success course.
Recommendations: If current instructors already are
receptive to teaching freshman-success courses, introducing a new program to
this audience is the best strategy for getting buy-in. Finding ways to link USA
Funds Life Skills to the curriculum becomes an easier task if relevant topics
have been identified in advance.
Campus Contact:
Jane Rhoads, Director of Undergraduate
Success Program
Phone: (316) 978-3773
E-mail: jane.rhoads@wichita.edu