VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

A small university initiative that was a winner in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business’ first-ever EPIC Challenge garnered a lot of student attention during Welcome Week.

The Money Spot at VCU took advantage of the festivities and introduced itself to new and returning students. With tables at both the University Student Commons and the SOVO Fair, about 300 students expressed interest in meeting with one of the program’s Money Coaches.

The student-to-student peer financial advising network specifically tackles college debt and student loans. It prompts students to start thinking about their budget as a whole, to learn how to make a plan, and to be financially literate. The program is available to all VCU students at no cost.

Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the EPIC Challenge in the spring and five-figure contributions from Northwestern Mutual and the Virginia Credit Union, the program is funded for its first full year. The Money Spot employs nine Money Coaches who receive continual training from team member John P. McFarland, coordinator of the Financial Planning Track in the Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, and a group of volunteers from the local financial planning community.

“We already have several volunteers to join the next training class and the spirit of the coaches is enviable,” McFarland said.

The whole focus is to increase the financial literacy of VCU students.

The major focus of the coaching sessions is to help students create a spending plan, understand the use of consumer credit and credit scores, and manage student loans.

“Any money topic is open for discussion with the exception of product advice, such as insurance and investments,” McFarland said. “No products will ever be promoted or even mentioned by Money Spot coaches. The whole focus is to increase the financial literacy of VCU students.”

The Money Spot has set up shop, so to speak, in the TRIO office at Hibbs Hall and will serve students from TRIO — federal student services programs for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds — as well as any student who wants to follow up on an initial conversation from Welcome Week.

“We will host open houses in Hibbs as well as having pop-up tables during the year,” McFarland said. “We have several money-oriented games and a ton of resources to help students gain control of their finances long before graduation. The Money Coaches are constantly looking for more ways to get information out to the student body.

“Additionally, we will be giving presentations on specific money topics in all the residence halls and will offer the same to the student organizations on campus.”

The Money Spot team for the EPIC grant consisted of McFarland; Dan Salandro, chair of the Finance Insurance and Real Estate department; Rachel Maddux, director of enrollment research and initiatives in the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management, who represented the TRIO program; and Chintal DeSai, who is in charge of research.

“I’m confident that we will be able to show substantial results over the first year or two and press a strong case for funding from the university itself,” McFarland said. “The fiscal goal is to reduce student loan borrowing by 10 percent over the first two-year period, which would result in VCU students not borrowing $21 million a year. With an anticipated cost of operation of $175,000 per year that equals a 21,000 percent return on investment.”

Student confidentiality will be maintained and Money Coaches have received training in “duty to warn” and confidentiality procedures, McFarland said. FERPA and VCU Ethics are standard topics of the training sessions and continue to be a topic of conversation in training meetings.

 

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