News – Page 3

RMC’s Chris King co-authors chapter in book “The Governance of Labour Administration”

December 17, 2021 Leave a Comment

RMC’s Senior Research Scientist Dr. Chris King co-authored a chapter with Burt Barnow in a new book The Governance of Labour Administration: Reforms, Innovations and Challenges, edited by Jason Heyes and Ludek Rychly of the University of Sheffield Management School and available in print or open access through Edward Elgar Publishing. The book focuses on public administration activities in the field of national labour policy, providing detailed analyses of labour administration reforms, innovations, and challenges in different countries (case studies from Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the United States are detailed). The chapter co-authored by King and Barnow describes developments in U.S. policies (see Chapter 11, “Recent developments in U.S. labor policies and programs”).

Research Study of Austin Community College’s Rainy Day Savings Program

September 16, 2021 Leave a Comment

Research Study of Austin Community College’s Rainy Day Savings Program
Date: August 2021
Publication Type: Report, 28pp.

With funding support from Trellis Foundation, the Student Money Management Office (SMMO) at Austin Community College (ACC) is implementing the Rainy Day Savings Program, modeled after the success of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). In the Rainy Day Savings program, students earn up to $100 in cash incentives while working to amass at least $500 in savings. ACC has partnered with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at The University of Texas at Austin to study the effectiveness of the Rainy Day Savings program.

In this interim report, RMC researchers examined program participation patterns and early program outcomes. A comparison of pre- and post- financial well-being measures suggests that by helping build up participants’ savings and financial cushions, the program helped increase participants’ perceived financial well-being. The level of participation and the amount saved varied considerably among active program participants. Program participation (including incentive take-up) and outcomes were also disaggregated by participant characteristics to identify equity gaps. Results suggest that women, underrepresented minorities, and students with children likely need additional prompts and assistance to complete the tasks necessary to earn the incentives. In the next report, researchers will use administrative data from ACC to study the program’s impact on student success outcomes such as retention.

Maximizing Impact and Measuring Success

September 14, 2021 Leave a Comment

Principal Investigator:	Greg Cumpton, PhD
Sponsor:	Goodwill Industries of Central Texas
Project Duration:	April 2021 – November 2021
Description:	The Ray Marshall Center will provide assistance to Goodwill Industries of Central Texas to develop, plan, and deploy a revised strategic plan for future years.
Reports Available:

Nuru Nigeria: 2021 Midpoint Impact Report

September 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

Nuru Nigeria: 2021 Midpoint Impact Report
Authors: Ashweeta Patnaik, Heath Prince, and Thomas Boswell (Ray Marshall Center); Olayinka Orefunwa and Bless Jima (Nuru Nigeria); Dena Bunnel, Casey Harrison, and Matt Lineal (Nuru International)
Date: August 2021
Publication Type: Report, 58 pp.
This report is commissioned by Nuru International.

The Ray Marshall Center (RMC) at The University of Texas at Austin is conducting a four-year mixed-method impact evaluation of Nuru Nigeria’s interventions. The study design includes an intervention group and a non-intervention comparison group assigned through a clustered random control trial design. The mixed-method approach includes quantitative data collection using a household survey administered at baseline and midpoint, and qualitative data collection using focus groups and stakeholder interviews conducted at baseline and midpoint. RMC is using propensity score matching and difference-in-difference to study the impact of Nuru Nigeria’s interventions. This report sets out the midpoint status of these objectives.

The impact analysis found that, at the midpoint, Nuru interventions had no significant program impact on overall resilience, but did have impacts on adaptive resilience capacity and transformative resilience capacity. The impact analysis also found that Nuru had significant program impacts on several key resilience indicators, including access to cash savings, asset ownership, shock preparedness and mitigation, aspirations/confidence to adapt/locus of control, availability of financial resources, education/training, and availability of/access to formal safety nets. The impact analysis also found that Nuru had significant and often large program impacts on short-term outcomes like saving money, saving cash crops from loss, household dietary diversity, using zinc supplements to treat diarrhea, and soap use. Nuru’s M&E team also found that Nuru intervention households had a 65 percent increase in crop equivalent yield (CEY) from 2019 to 2020, exceeding the target of a 32 percent increase in CEY, as well as a 107 percent increase in agricultural income, exceeding the target of 30 percent. Overall, the midpoint findings suggest that Nuru Nigeria’s interventions are having positive impacts on both short-term outcomes and resilience indicators. The midpoint results can help inform Nuru Nigeria’s program implementation and be used to make decisions about where to focus program efforts.

Evaluation of the CCCCO Financial Literacy Pilot Final Report

July 19, 2021 Leave a Comment

Evaluation of the CCCCO Financial Literacy Pilot Final Report
Authors: Ashweeta Patnaik, Greg Cumpton, and Cynthia Juniper
Date: May 2021
Publication Type: Report, 67pp.

The California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) partnered with fifteen community colleges across California to pilot a unique financial literacy messaging intervention in fall 2019 and fall 2020. The goal of the pilot was to increase student retention and success by delivering useful financial literacy material, focusing on much‐needed information about budgeting and credit, and specifically targeting first‐year, first‐time students, via a texting/email platform.

The CCCCO partnered with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (RMC), to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot. RMC’s evaluation included an outcome evaluation for each college and a rigorous impact evaluation for the pilot as a whole. Using a quasi‐experimental evaluation approach, RMC researchers found that overall, the financial literacy messaging campaign had small but positive impacts on academic outcomes in the semester that the pilot was implemented in, but no impacts on longer‐term academic outcomes, retention outcomes, and credential attainment outcomes. Sub‐group analyses found positive impacts on fall‐to‐spring retention for first‐time students, female students, and financial aid students. In this final report, researchers discuss the evaluation’s findings and offer recommendations. The results of this evaluation can serve as an impetus for colleges to scale up and expand their financial literacy messaging campaign while adopting evidence‐based best practices.

Researching ACC’s Rainy Day Savings Program

June 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

Principal Investigator:	Greg Cumpton, PhD
Sponsor:	Austin Community College
Project Duration:	April 2021 – March 2022
Description:	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, students earn 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 purposes of the Rainy Day Savings Program, and students worked towards amassing at least $500 savings. Based on the initial results, ACC viewed this program as a tool to increase student retention and completion and sought to expand and refine the program. ACC received funding from Trellis Foundation in January 2020 to support this effort. ACC enrolled approximately 600 students in the Rainy Day Savings Program in fall 2020. Enrollment focused on two key student groups: First-time in college (FTIC) and Adult Education (AE) students. The program helped students establish a savings account at a local financial institution and provided cash incentives as they set aside money for a financial emergency. ACC is partnering with the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) to study the effectiveness of the Rainy Day Savings program. This research study will provide actionable information about the success of the intervention allowing for ACC and Trellis to make decisions about and program modifications and sustainability.
Reports Available:	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. Research Study of Austin Community College’s Rainy Day Savings Program Date: August 2021 Publication Type: Report, 28pp.

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