Supporting Student Holistic Financial Wellness
The mission of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Center for Financial Wellness (CFW) is to teach and equip students to make secure and informed financial decisions that impact their present and future goals. Financial wellness plays an instrumental role in overall student success. Financial issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, and financial fragility impact degree completion and the holistic wellbeing of the student.
In alignment with their mission, the CFW hosted the annual summit for the national Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance (HEFWA) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville this summer. Professor and head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Robert Kelchen, was one of the keynote speakers.
HEFWA Executive Director Phil Schuman shared his takeaways from the summit.
“After holding our Summit online for the past two years, it was great to be back in-person with the HEFWA community,” he said. “We are fortunate to work with a group that is so committed to helping find solutions to student success through financial wellness programming. We are very appreciative to the University of Tennessee and the Knoxville community for being such great hosts.”
Philippa Satterwhite, coordinator for the CFW and director of summit programming, spoke to what makes this conference, and UT hosting it, so impactful.
“The conference allowed for collaboration between a multitude of higher education institutions. Attendees were able to share experiences, brainstorm together and build a network with other educators, with the common goal of supporting student financial acumen and short and long-term financial wellness.”
As financial wellness experts, the CFW is committed to providing resources and one-on-one guidance to support holistic student success, and in turn, positively impact the retention rates of our students.