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TUESDAY, SEPT. 04, 2018
K A LEO O HAWAI ‘I THE VOICE OF HAWAI‘I
The UH Mānoa Financial Literacy Program Financial wellness is nurtured here
ALEXANDER WONG / KA LEO O HAWAI‘I
The UH Mānoa Financial Literacy Program office is located in Room 209 at the Queen Lili’uokalani Center for Student Services. KAILANIANNA ABLOG OPINIONS EDITOR
Finances play a vital role in adulthood; it often determines if one can afford to stay in school and pay the bills. While handling money can be intimidating, the Financial Literacy Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa aims to encourage financial wellness amongst the UH community.
this time, for college students to begin understanding how to manage their money. “Finances play such a huge part; it can affect everything, not only graduation, but also staying school, whether you get a job and are able to focus on things - your relationships,” Miyashiro said. “It’s beneficial to [put finance into practice] in college so you can get missteps out of the way. That way, when you are finally on your own, you’re ready.”
MAKING ‘CENTS’ OF THE PROGRAM
The Financial Literacy Program began in 2009 and aims to “build the financial capacity of our young people so that our families live responsibly, improve their economic opportunity, and obtain a desirable quality of life,” according to the program’s website. Program Coordinator Stacy Miyashiro explained that finances have a powerful impact on life and how important it is, especially at
BECOMING FINANCIALLY SAVVY
According to Miyashiro, the Financial Literacy Program establishes a safe space for students to hone their money knowledge and achieve their financial goals. “We try to meet the students exactly where they are. A lot of students grew up with their parents and grandparents telling them constantly ‘don’t spend money on this, you have to budget this and that.’
[The students] know it’s something they should do, but maybe they don’t know how,” Miyashiro said, “We step in, we see where they are, like how they’re managing their money, we find out what their goals are and try to steer them towards those goals.” A notable service the program provides is its one-on-one financial coaching services. “We offer one-on-one financial coaching, which can either be done with myself or with our peer coaches, which are college students who have gone through a training program,” Miyashiro said. “[Peer coaches] are available throughout the semester to meet with students one-on-one to talk about different things such as budgeting, credit management, debt management, how to pay for school - just any financial issues they may have.” Along with coaching, the program extends resources to students
through presentations and workshops, as well as class presentations. It also hosts a Financial Wellness Fair, posts financial tips on social media and offers tip sheets on their website for students to look over at their own pace. During the spring semester, the program also offers free tax preparation and filing for eligible students.
pace. We go with what their goals are rather than trying to impose ours.” The next financial wellness event will be on Oct. 17 at the Campus Center Courtyard from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
FINANCES - WE’RE ALL DOING IT
UH MĀNOA FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM
Regardless of one’s financial literacy, Miyashiro stresses that everyone is already practicing finances in some way, and the program is there to support and nurture their financial knowledge. “[Finances] are something you are already doing. The choices you make influence whether or not you’re going to buy that car when you graduate, if you’re going to move out of your parents’ house, or get married on time,” Miyashiro said, “We walk [students] through it step-by-step; we go at the students’
MORE INFO
LOCATION Queen Lili’uokalani Center for Student Services 209 CONTACT Phone: (808) 956 - 6572 Email: finlit@hawaii.edu Instagram: uhmfinlit
Got keiki? Get SP@M Organization at UH Mānoa helps student parents ALGEO ROSARIO WEB EDITOR
Student Parents at Mānoa, also known as SP@M, is a campus organization that serves student parents enrolled at the University of Hawai‘ i at Mānoa. They support their mission by increasing the availability of resources that support student parents in order to make UH Mānoa a more family friendly campus. “Many student parents are first in their family to attend college,” Angie Solomon, SP@M coordinator, said. “Ensuring these students are successful and completed their degrees in higher education not only changes the economic and social aspirations of these students, but it changes the trajectory
for their children in profound and positive ways.” SP@M connects student parents with support services, provides resources about community organizations and implements co-curricular activities and events. One resource that is available to student parents is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a food stamp program available to low-income people in the United States. Each semester, SP@M sets up a booth at Campus Center to assist student parents with filling out SNAP forms. SP@M holds Aloha Friday lunches every Friday at the Women’s Center in the Queen Lili‘uokalani Center for Student Services, where students parents can get together and mingle.
SP@M also helps student parents budget money, encourages healthy parenting and provides a safe space for those who need it. BEING A STUDENT PARENT
There are 550 student parents within the SP@M program. However, 5 percent, 880 students of the UH Mānoa population, are student parents, according to Solomon. Securing childcare services, housing, food and financial insecurity, juggling school and work requirements and finding family friendly amenities on campus; such as lactation spaces and changing stations in restrooms, are some challenges of being a student parent. Diana Nomura, a senior civil engineering student, says being
a student parent is difficult, but organizations like SP@M helped her transition back into school. “I would encourage them [student parents] because when I first started, I didn’t know about all of these things,” Nomura said. “I was trying to get back and find what I could.” Nomura started involvement with the SP@M program when her child was five months old. Prior to this fall semester, she was taking one class a semester; now she is a full time student, taking four classes. Nomura did the online application process for the SNAP program, which took her about two months to complete. She says if she knew SP@M was offering assistance beforehand, they could have helped her apply in 30 minutes. Overall, Nomura feels that find-
ing support services such as SP@M will not only help student parents, but their children as well. “If you check it out, then it would be a better transition as a parent because you’re trying to do the best for your kid and they‘re trying to do the best for you,” Nomura says. MORE INFO
STUDENT PARENTS AT MANOA LOCATION Queen Lili‘uokalani Center for Student Services 211 CONTACT Phone: 808-956-8059 Email: gotkids@hawaii.edu