Promising Practices in Emergency Aid Gail DiSabatino, Ed.D. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs University of Massachusetts Boston Kathryn Hutchinson, Ph.D. Vice President for Student Affairs St. John’s University Amy Geist, M.A. Director of Strategic Initiatives NASPA Amelia Parnell, Ph.D. Vice President for Research and Policy NASPA

Agenda NASPA Landscape Analysis of Emergency Aid Programs Project Goals & Method Components of Robust Emergency Aid Programs 10 Findings & 5 Needs; Questions and Critiques of EA Campus Examples Rubric to Assess Campus Readiness Questions

“Many individuals are ill-prepared for a financial disruption” Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making – October 2014 47% of respondents said they either could not cover an emergency expense costing $400, or would cover it by selling something or borrowing money. http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/2014-report-economic- well-being-us-households-201505.pdf

Complex Student Needs Institutions are providing: A case management approach Holistic support Streamlined access Timely resources Single Stop USA is one example

Landscape Analysis of Emergency Aid Programs Conducted with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Primary Goals: Describe the current condition of emergency aid programs across institutional sectors - Highlight connections to student outcomes - Provide examples of exemplary practice - Surface emerging institutions

The definition of emergency aid is still evolving For the purposes of this project, emergency aid included one- time grants, loans, and completion scholarships of less than $1,500 provided to students facing unexpected financial crisis, as well as food pantries, housing assistance, and transportation assistance.

Method Campus interviews (October–December 2015) 20+ institutions Multiple perspectives financial aid, student affairs, development National survey (January-March 2016) 695 institutions responded 523 have an emergency aid program

Sector of Responding Institutions

Size of Responding Institutions

10 Findings

1- Over 70% of institutions from most sectors have an emergency aid program. Private for-profit is the exception, with only 38% (we only had 13 respondents from the private for profit sector)

2- Both small- and large-sized institutions have emergency aid programs. Variation of the pie chart a few slides ago. Information about the number of students served and size of budget are in the report. Important point is that this is not just a narrow conversation only for large-sized institutions.

3- Over 80% of colleges that have an emergency aid program have had it for 3 or more years. They’ve been doing this for a while. These indications of 3-5 and more than 5 years are telling. Even though loosely-coordinated and not really visible, campuses have been doing this for a while.

4- Institutions are offering six primary types of emergency aid. These are the types of aid. Initially, the anticipation was grants, loans, vouchers, but we also got info about programs like completion scholarships and food pantries. Emergency loans are offered most; Completion scholarships are offered least Vouchers are for things like books, transportation, some cases a meal card for dining services Restricted refers to situations where the campus has identified some kind of restriction for eligibility like year in school or GPA; Unrestricted grants also don’t have to be paid back and aren’t limited to who can request/receive

5- Food pantries are the second leading type of emergency aid provided for public 2-year and 4-year institutions. Public, 4-year or above It came to light in the landscape analysis that food pantries are the second leading type of emergency aid provided at public 4-year and 2-year institutions.

5- Food pantries are the second leading type of emergency aid provided for public 2-year and 4-year institutions. Public, 2-year College and University Food Bank Alliance Report - Hunger on Campus: The Challenge of Food Insecurity for College Students

6- Emergency loans and restricted small grants are the leading type of aid provided at private not-for profit institutions.

7- Word of mouth is the primary method for disseminating information about all types of emergency aid. NASPA is working to increase communication and awareness of these kinds of resources for students in need.

8- The majority of colleges are not using data to proactively identify students who would benefit from emergency aid. Does your institution use data to proactively identify students? Colleges that do use data proactively are primarily using financial aid reports and bursar/student accounts information

8- The majority of colleges are not using data to proactively identify students who would benefit from emergency aid. Does your institution use data to proactively identify students? Some campuses do track data on the students who receive aid, but that data is usually maintained on spreadsheets on individual computers.

Information Used to Proactively Identify Students If students typically have to come forward and self-identify as being in a position to need help for an emergency, campuses could mine their own data based on certain criteria or characteristics (low-income, first-generation, etc.) and do targeted communications rather than widespread marketing.

Factors that Prevent Use of Data to Proactively Identify Students When asked why they don’t use data, responses indicate that concerns exist about too many students qualifying, student privacy, or not being certain what data is relevant.

9- University foundation and individual donors are the leading sources of emergency aid funds. Over 50% reported it as the source for grants; 44% for completion scholarships; 41% for loans The next leading source was the operating budget. No more than 2% of institutions reported alumni giving as the source for any type of emergency aid. Leading sources of funding are foundation and individual donors. Alumni giving could be a focus in the future.

10- Lack of financial resources is the leading barrier to serving more students with emergency aid. Financial aid limits and lack of awareness of the availability of services are the next most common.

Institutions Currently Assisting All Students Who Request Emergency Aid It makes sense that most would say they’re not, but 29% said yes. Important to note that this is a question about those who request, so it’s perhaps not all students who need aid, or that they aren’t fully meeting the need of those who do request.

5 Needs A common language to describe and discuss emergency aid More compliance guidance for administering emergency grants and loans Set of procedures to guide the development of new and existing programs Better use of data to identify students who need aid and assess effect of programs on student success More automated processing What do we mean when discussing emergency aid Not necessarily federal compliance, but just compliance in general Learning from other campuses, toolkit for starting or bolstering programs How to identify students in need How to do more with what we have; not hire more staff, but make some processes automated

Questions and Critiques Is the delivery of emergency aid outside of the mission of higher education? “Institutions are not social service agencies.” What if students “game the system?” “If a student needs emergency aid, perhaps that means he or she cannot afford to go to college.” Should emergency aid be considered a one-time resource for students? “We should not expect students to build emergency aid into their yearly budget.”

Emergency Aid: A Campus Perspective Lessons Learned: Create one central point of contact for emergency aid cases Intake to assess stressors Centralized referrals Authority to immediately provide vouchers, authorization of payment of funds for transportation, etc. Acts as liaison to other campus resources and activates assistance Creates a short-term, concrete, specific plan with student Follow-up within 7-10 days ( earlier if needed)

Emergency Aid: Campus Lessons Learned Crafting the message about the Emergency Aid Program Connect the program to the University Mission Connect Emergency Aid to student success Be upfront about the scope of the program Clearly define the purpose Manage expectations Dignity for all is essential

Emergency Aid: Campus Lessons Learned Educate employees/faculty/students where to refer Create a culture of care and refer Engage student leaders in sharing information with peers and about peers Engage all campus partners especially the 24/7 functions- food service, facilities, housekeeping & public safety Define emergency aid for those trained

Emergency Aid: Campus Lessons Learned Evaluation of Emergency Aid Impact Categorize cases Be creative: data beyond retention/persistence Consider qualitative data from student perspective Assess timing of the aid and impact Look to the data to enhance program and set realistic goals and outcomes

UMass Boston Student Demographic In-state Pell Grant recipients is about 47% About 61% of undergraduates are first-generation college students, many of immigrant parents 40% report speaking language other than English at home 32% of freshman and 55% of seniors reported working more than 20 hours a week off campus

The Office of Urban and Off-Campus Support Services (U-ACCESS) - Est Vision To be a national campus model for effective and innovative practices that strengthen support for postsecondary disadvantaged student populations with complex personal and social issues such as homeless, domestic violence and emancipated from foster care, etc. Mission To empower and support students who are experiencing complex personal and social issues that may derail their academic success. Goal To improve students’ academic persistence and degree completion by providing emergency assistance and multi-disciplinary intervention that maximizes the use of campus and community resources. Outcome Students will successfully complete their degrees at UMass Boston, minimize the cycle of poverty and educational attrition, and improve their life choices and opportunities.

The Office of Urban and Off-Campus Support Services (U-ACCESS) Provides comprehensive support and advocacy services to UMass Boston students who may be experiencing homelessness emancipation from foster care parental neglect chronic or persistent poverty domestic violence legal issues financial emergencies Collaboration with off-campus resources Local shelters for short-term housing solutions and assisting them in searching for affordable housing Department of Children and Families for students aging out of foster care Greater Boston Food Bank and local grocery stores to stock the Food Pantry Assist students in applying for SNAP Collaboration with on-campus resources Office of Housing, Dean of Students, Financial Aid, Bursar’s Office, Counseling, Advancement

Demographically representative sample – 390 of 17,000 students Housing and Food Insecurity Study Results1 Demographically representative sample – 390 of 17,000 students Prevalence of Food Insecurity Among Participants   Often Sometimes Never Worried about having enough $ for food 4.6% 22.8% 72.2% Had to skip a meal due to lack of $ for food 2.8% 24.1% 72.7% Unable to eat balanced meals 6.8% 20.5% 71.9% Did not eat for more than 1-2 days 1.8% 92.7% 1Silva, Meghan R., et al. The Relationship Between Food Security, Housing Stability, and School Performance Among College Students in an Urban University. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 0(0) 1-16.

Housing and Food Insecurity Study Results1 Demographically representative sample – 390 of 17,000 students Housing Insecurity Reported being homeless since starting college 1 in 20 (5%) Did not know whether they could continue sleeping in their current place for 2 weeks Have moved at least once in the past 12 months 1 in 3 (33.3%) 1Silva, Meghan R., et al. The Relationship Between Food Security, Housing Stability, and School Performance Among College Students in an Urban University. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. 0(0) 1-16.

Demographically representative sample – 390 of 17,000 students Housing and Food Insecurity Study Results1 Demographically representative sample – 390 of 17,000 students Impact of Housing Instability and Food Instability on Class Attendance and Performance   Insecure Not Insecure Attend class Housing 47.6% 17.5% Food 58.6% 16.4% Perform in class 81% 22.9% 87.5% 22.1% About 4% of respondents had to forego registering for one or more semesters due to food insecurity and/or housing instability About 5% risked failing a class due to food insecurity and/or housing instability

The Office of Urban and Off-Campus Support Services (U-ACCESS) Student client profile (September 2016 – January 2017) Total student parents: 28 Total unemployed/looking for work: 74 Total student in need of housing assistance: 23 Total student signed up for SNAP: 33

U-ACCESS Food Pantry Opened in 2013, it was the first food pantry among 4-year universities in Massachusetts Served over 1,600 students to date Food Pantry Statistics (September 2016 – January 2017)   Visits Households New Students GBFB Donations (lbs) % of total Other Donations (lbs) Total Donation (lbs) September 108 55 23 2,327 95.5 110 4.5 2,437 October 192 80 30 2,866 96.6 100 3.4 2,966 November 334 116 31 6,334 89.5 745 10.5 7,079 December 167 94 11 1,874 77.4 547 22.6 2,421 January 121 41 48 1,853 92.5 150 7.5 2,003 Average 184.4 77.2 28.6 3,051 90.3 330 9.7 3,381 Total 922 143 15,254 1,652 16,906

Housing and Food Insecurity Study Results1 Faculty Perceptions Of faculty surveyed: 87% indicated interest in a resource guide to support students facing food insecurity and housing insecurity and housing instability, and 82% would like contact names related to resources 30% indicated interest in a workshop related to these issues  In the past year: Housing Instability Food Insecurity At least one student communicated issues to faculty:  59% 26% Faculty referred at least one student to on-campus resources 24% 14%

Next Steps Use of Maxient Faculty and staff education Fund for Students Students Affected by Executive Orders Single Stop

Coming Soon – Emergency Aid Readiness Rubric Capacity Criteria Rating Definition Forming The institution is identifying a course of action for the area Emerging Decisions have been made and/or implementation has started Functioning The most critical pieces are in place to execute the work needed Exemplar Well-positioned to scale and sustain emergency aid efforts

Sample Guiding Question Institutional Research Capacity Areas Area Sample Guiding Question Leadership Is there a clear office/ department/ individual responsible for the emergency aid program’s implementation and success? Policy Does the campus adhere to relevant state and federal guidelines for distributing financial aid? Institutional Research To what extent does the campus use data to identify the students who could benefit from the program the most? Technology To what extent does the campus leverage technology to receive and process requests in a timely manner? Sustainability To what extent does the campus allocate and leverage multiple sources to secure enough funding for the emergency aid program? Communication Are various mechanisms used to inform students about emergency aid availability? For policy – another example is related to the process for how students can qualify and/or apply for emergency aid. For sustainability – examples include alumni association, donors, and the campus operating budget.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs University of Massachusetts Boston Gail DiSabatino, Ed.D. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs University of Massachusetts Boston Gail.D@umb.edu Kathryn Hutchinson, Ph.D. Vice President for Student Affairs St. John’s University hutchink@stjohns.edu Amy Geist, M.A. Director of Strategic Initiatives NASPA ageist@naspa.org Amelia Parnell, Ph.D. Vice President for Research and Policy NASPA aparnell@naspa.org