Best Practices
Financial Literacy
In 2015, the Penn State Commission for Adult Learners sponsored the creation of a financial literacy website to promote financial literacy knowledge to students, parents, stakeholders and the Penn State community. The Penn State financial literacy website went live in May 2015 at financialliteracy.psu.edu.
The website hosts all the recorded and archived workshops and webinars that were previously developed under MoneyCounts: A Financial Literacy Series, and provides connection to the Student Financial Education Center to promote the peer-to-peer program at Penn State.
At the same time, a departmental email of finlit@psu.edu was granted for the website and for office use to facilitate communication with users. Google Analytics was added to the site to monitor visitors and extract relevant information. In the first 2 weeks of the site going live, 1,849 visitors viewed the page with the highest percentage of 35.5% of visitors’ ages between 25 and 34. Even though the website offers a wealth of information and resources on financial literacy, a plan to create self-study modules is under construction to provide a value- add interactive site for users, specifically online learners, to sharpen their financial literacy skills and knowledge at their own pace.
Degree Completion Initiative
Dr. Francis Achampong reported that Penn State Mont Alto had sent a post card targeting adult learners with some credits but no degree. The card invited prospects to an open house. Chancellor Achampong recently signed a pledge to join the Education Pillar of ‘Got Your 6’ support student veterans by implementing and enhancing resources, programs, and policies to support this population.
Adult Learner Week
Sueann Doran reported that Penn State Dubois redefined its Adult Learner week and condensed activities into one day including a breakfast and RSVP lunch with a financial literacy program. On Veterans Day, their veterans club did an American Heroes challenge with teams of four competing in physical contests such as pull-ups and push-ups. MREs were given to spectators. The Daughters of the American Revolution distributed cards of appreciation with stars repurposed from old flags. The event was well-received and boosted the visibility of campus veterans and military.