COLLEGE ACCESS CHALLENGE GRANT PROGRAM
GREAT FALLS COLLEGE MSU MAY 1, 2014
PART 1 -- PERFORMANCE REPORT
SECTION I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Please provide a brief description of the current status of your project. Describe the extent to which you
have implemented all program activities and components. Highlight your major outcomes, successes, and
challenges.
There was good attendance by the Advisory Team at the Financial Literacy Training from OCHE with eight
team members, four Advising program support staff and the new Financial Literacy Coordinator from MSU
Northern for a total of thirteen.
Advisory team attendance for March has remained consistent with eight members where we went over the
plans for April’s financial literacy month events, had a brief follow-up to the Financial Literacy Training and
programs picked up extra materials such as Dollars and Sense workbooks and OCHE student loan repayment
packets.
High risk student populations attended April Financial Wellness Month activities and self-identified with the
material provided to utilize the mus.edu/Prepare web site for student loans, budgeting, banking, credit cards
with mention of sharing the information with other family or friends who may need assistance for their loans
in default. Week two of the Financial Wellness Your Way event was identified through brief survey of the
bank representatives as location in the Heritage Hall instead of the Atrium for open access.
In March while advising was occurring, nine student came into Student Central to pick up a Dollars & Sense
workbook and 52 were mailed to students taking online courses. During the Financial Wellness month booth
events in April, students picked up an additional 18 copies of the workbook. Other handout materials were
developed using the Dollars & Sense book for students along with a reminder to use the msu.edu/Prepare
resources.
The advising office staff all had a tabbed copy of the Dollars and Sense book at their March advising
sessions and copies were available for student review in the waiting room in the Advising office.
SECTION II: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
1. Describe the progress that your project has made towards accomplishing the objectives for this
reporting period. Please list your objectives in the table below, and indicate what activities have taken
place, the quantitative results of those activities, and actions required (what, if any, changes do you
intend to make in response to the results that you have seen). You may extend this table to additional
pages as needed.
Objectives: List the
approved objectives from
your grant application or
work plan. Where
applicable, provide baseline
Activities: List the activities
that have been conducted to
meet the objective.
Results: Has the objective
been met? If not, what
progress have you made in
reaching the objective?
data.
1.
Develop a financial
literacy team to identify and
incorporate strategies to
enhance and improve financial
literacy best practices and
concepts.
Training for the Advisory Team
was held on March 13-14 and a
team meeting held on March
25th.
Financial Literacy Training was
attended by eight Advisory Team
members with four support staff
from Advising.
2.
Identify high-risk
population for targeted
intervention.
The listing was received for
students completing the online
Essential Start orientation.
52 workbooks were mailed with
a cover letter to the spring
semester students completing
the online Essential Start
orientation.
At the April Financial Wellness
Events, Week 1) 38 students
picked up a “Know What you
Owe” card and 14 of those
indicated, “I am getting ready to
graduate or transfer, this will
help me get ready” One student
looked up his loan data to
complete his card at the table
event. Three staff picked up 20
cards and contact information
for office use or individuals they
know in loan default, also a few
parents picked up contact
information for family/friends in
loan default.
Wk 2) Two students commented
they needed local banking
information to manage their
budget better. One student
attended the am session of
Student Education Savings. Five
Know what you owe cards were
picked up by students
completing Exit Counseling
Wk 3) The student govt.
president picked up materials to
redo his budget planning
because he is getting ready to
graduate, we discussed changes
and resources available on the
mus.edu./Prepare site
April Financial Wellness Month:
Wk 1 “Know what you Owe”
Wk 2 Financial Wellness Your
Way
Wk 3 Dream, Save, Spend –
Dollars and Sense
Information from the Dollars &
Sense workbook were utilized at
these events with high-risk
populations in mind.
3.
Disseminate approved
financial literacy information
materials to reach targeted
audiences.
4. Incorporate financial
literacy concepts and
information into advising
sessions.
During the months of March and
April additional workbooks were
provided for the Advisory team
at the Financial Literacy Training,
also copies are made available at
Student Central for students.
Month of March, nine
workbooks were picked up by
students from Student Central,
and three copies were picked up
by staff at the Financial Literacy
training on March 13th & 14th.
One book was given to the
April Financial Wellness Month:
library, one replaced in advising
Wk 1 Know what you Owe
waiting room.
Wk 2 Financial Wellness Your
During the activities for the April
Way
Financial Wellness:
Wk 3 Dream, Save Spend (Dollars Wk 1) 38 students picked up
& Sense)
know what you owe cards and
Wk 4 Take the Pledge
mus.edu/Prepare resources.
Handouts for students were
Attended by 56 students and
developed using the Dollars &
seven staff.
Sense workbook.
Wk 2) presentations were
scheduled on the topics of:
checking/savings, credit
cards/credit score, retirement
planning, investing, education
savings. Attended by 11
students and three staff.
Wk 3) Nine workbooks picked up
by students along with materials
received from OCHE. Fourteen
know what you owe cards were
picked up by students as well as
mus.edu/Prepare resources.
Attended by 23 students and 2
staff
Wk 4) nine workbooks were
picked up by students along with
mus.edu/Prepare resources. Six
students completed a “Take the
Pledge” form and Nine Know
what you Owe cards were picked
up by students. Attended by 28
students and three staff.
Advising staff would have their
Nine students came into Student
tabbed (checking, budget, credit Central after advising to get a
card, student loans) workbook
copy of the Dollars and Sense
available in each advising session workbook.
for students to review and relay
that they can pick up their copy
at Student Central.
SECTION V: SERVICES/ACTIVITIES
1. Please enter the number of students who participated in CACG activities or received services.
Number of Students: ___118_____
2. Services Provided to Students: In the following table, place an “X” in the first column next to the
types of services or activities provided by your project with Federal or matching funds. For each type of
service provided, indicate the number of students who received the service during the reporting period.
Place an “X” in
this column if
your project
provides this type
of service
Financial Wellness
Type of Service/Activities
Information for students and
families (i.e., postsecondary
education benefits, opportunities,
planning, financial options, and
college preparation)
Outreach activities
Assistance in completion of
FAFSA or other financial reporting
forms
Need-based grant aid
Academic enrichment
Loan cancellation, repayment, or
interest rate reduction
Other (please specify)
Number of Students
118
3. Professional Development
a. Please enter the number of financial aid administrators, and/or college admissions counselors
at an institution of higher education that participated in professional development activities.
Category
Success Advisors &/or Career Coaches
Financial Aid Administrators
College Admissions Counselors
Number of
Participants
5
3
b. Please describe briefly the type of professional development activities that were implemented
(e.g., workshops and/or materials).
The financial wellness advisory team attended the OCHE training in March on the 13th and 14th. All attendees
received a copy of the Student Loan Repayment presentation materials, a few of the extra copies were picked
up by programs to provide for their employees review.