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Research Study of Austin Community College’s Rainy Day Savings Program: Year One Report

June 14, 2022 Leave a Comment

Research Study of Austin Community College’s Rainy Day Savings Program: Year One Report
Authors: Ashweeta Patnaik and Greg Cumpton
Date: April 2022
Publication Type: Report, 38pp.

Background:
Austin Community College’s (ACC) Student Money Management Office (SMMO), established in 2016, supports Austin Community College student success by providing accessible and relevant money management education, enabling students to make informed financial decisions. In fall 2018, SMMO piloted the Rainy Day Savings Program, modeled after the successes of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) which have helped low-income people save and attain assets.

In the Rainy Day Savings program pilot, students earned up to $100 in cash incentives for completing certain tasks and meeting milestones. These tasks and milestones were chosen because of their potential impact on future financial wellness, such as setting up direct deposit, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and meeting with a financial coach. Savings accounts were opened for students at University Federal Credit Union (UFCU) exclusively for the Rainy Day Savings Program, and students worked towards amassing at least $500 in total savings.

Based on the initial results, ACC believed that this program could help students address a financial emergency before it escalates to a financial crisis while also providing students with practical experience interacting with a financial institution, applying financial literacy skills, and experience managing a bank account. ACC sought to expand and refine the program and received funding from Trellis Foundation in January 2020 to support this effort.

ACC partnered with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at The University of Texas at Austin to study the effectiveness of the Rainy Day Savings program. This research study aimed to provide actionable information about the success of the intervention allowing for ACC and Trellis to make decisions about program modifications and sustainability.

Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2021 Update

April 6, 2022 Leave a Comment

Evaluation of Travis County Investments in Workforce Development: 2021 Update
Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Patty Rodriguez, and Heath Prince
Date: February 2022
Publication Type: Report, 170pp.

This evaluation examines outcomes and impacts for participants exiting the Travis County-funded community-based workforce programs between FY 2016 and FY 2020. To understand the impact of these services, the county has contracted with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (RMC), an organized research unit in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, to conduct a longitudinal evaluation of its investments. This evaluation report presents findings and analyses of programs funded during a five-year on-going evaluation (FY 2016–FY 2020).

RMC’s Dr. Heath Prince co-authors article on interventions to prevent occupational heat stress in laborers

April 6, 2022 Leave a Comment

RMC’s Director and Research Scientist Dr. Heath Prince co-authored an article outlining interventions to prevent occupational heat stress in laborers during physically demanding work in high environmental temperatures. The article titled “Workplace Intervention for Heat Stress: Essential Elements of Design, Implementation, and Assessment” was published on March 22, 2022, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJEPH) by MDPI Open Access Journals and can be found here.

Abstract:
Heat stress is associated with numerous health effects that potentially harm workers, especially in a warming world. This investigation occurred in a setting where laborers are confronted with occupational heat stress from physically demanding work in high environmental temperatures. Collaboration with a major Nicaraguan sugarcane producer offered the opportunity to study interventions to prevent occupational heat-stress-related kidney disease. Two aims for this study of a rest-shade-water intervention program were: (1) describe the evolving intervention, summarize findings that motivated proposed improvements, assess impact of those improvements, and identify challenges to successful implementation and (2) extract primary lessons learned about intervention research that have both general relevance to investigations of work-related disease prevention and specific relevance to this setting. The learning curve for the various stakeholders as well as the barriers to success demonstrate that effectiveness of an intervention cannot be adequately assessed without considerations of implementation. Designing, effectively implementing, and assessing both health impacts and implementation quality is a resource-intensive endeavor requiring a transdisciplinary approach. Both general and specific lessons learned are presented for decisions on study design and study elements, implementation assessment, and management engagement in understanding how productivity and health can be successfully balanced and for building effective communication between investigators and all levels of management.

Evaluation of the Building Construction Trades Grantees

March 31, 2022 Leave a Comment

Principal Investigator:	Heath J. Prince, PhD
Sponsor:	Texas Workforce Commission
Project Duration:	December 2021 – November 2024
Description:	The Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources has partnered with the Texas Workforce Commission to conduct an evaluation of the Building Construction Trades Grantees Program, including assessing participant outcomes, program implementation, and participant and employer feedback on the programs.
Reports Available:

Evaluation of Austin Community College’s Strengthening Institutions Program Grant: Annual Outcomes and Impacts Report

January 26, 2022 Leave a Comment

Evaluation of Austin Community College’s Strengthening Institutions Program Grant: Annual Outcomes and Impacts Report
Authors: Ashweeta Patnaik, Greg Cumpton, and Cynthia Juniper
Date: September 2021
Publication Type: Report, 35pp.

Austin Community College (ACC) received a $1.7 million Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in 2015 to develop programs to help students understand smart money management and college financing. The grant, “Achieving Student Success through Financial Aid Education and Financial Literacy,” funded initiatives to teach students about money management and to help the ACC community understand the connection between students’ academic and financial goals. The target population for ACC’s initiatives for the SIP grant was all first-time in college (FTIC) credential-seeking students.

Through this grant, ACC established the Student Money Management Office (SMMO) whose mission is to support Austin Community College student success by providing accessible and relevant money management education, enabling students to make informed financial decisions. SMMO’s activities included text message alerts about financial aid requirements and deadlines, financial literacy workshops for students, professional development for faculty and staff, outreach and awareness campaigns for students, creation of an online presence using various social media platforms, and enhancements to the online Degree Map planning tool to provide personalized real-time financial aid information.

ACC hoped to demonstrate that the activities of SMMO were linked to improvements in measures of student success such as retention rates, credential attainment rates, and cohort loan default rates. ACC partnered with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC), an organized research unit in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, to perform an impact evaluation of the effectiveness of SMMO’s activities on the student outcome measures of interest, as well as an implementation evaluation.

This report examines the outcomes and impacts of grant-funded activities throughout the five-year grant period.

Evaluation of Austin Community College’s Strengthening Institutions Program Grant: Implementation Evaluation Report Through July 2021

January 26, 2022 Leave a Comment

Evaluation of Austin Community College’s Strengthening Institutions Program Grant: Implementation Evaluation Report Through July 2021
Authors: Cynthia Juniper, Greg Cumpton, and Ashweeta Patnaik
Date: September 2021
Publication Type: Report, 20pp.

ACC partnered with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC), an organized research unit in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, to conduct an implementation evaluation and an outcome and impact analysis of the SMMO program.

The SMMO implementation study documents the evolution of the program from the initial development and implementation starting in July 2016, continuing throughout the duration of the program, examining program modifications to understand how and why changes were made. The implementation evaluation is an essential source of information for interpreting the outcomes and impacts of student participation in the grant supported programs. Furthermore, the documentation of the program’s evolution over time may help to inform the development of other community college student money management efforts.

This final report examines the implementation and evolution of the program throughout the grant period. This report provides a summary overview of program initiatives, describes data-driven project modifications, and project refinements in response to the needs of the participants being served and to improve program efficiency. This report presents findings related to each of the following research questions:

What progress has SMMO made in the implementation of the project stated objective?
How has SMMO changed over time and why?
What program and institutional factors contribute to or impede program goal implementation?

The implementation study drew on multiple sources of data to answer these questions: the ACC and SMMO websites, interviews with program leadership, staff, and Peer Money Mentor focus group responses, SMMO social media platforms, and various SMMO program reports and documents.

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