Creative Bulletin Board Can Assist in Debt-Management Efforts
Submitted by: Larry Viterna and Kathy Bixby, USA Funds Services
Looking for another way to reinforce debt information with your students? Why not use a debt-management information bulletin board? Here are a few factors to consider before putting up the bulletin board:
Location
Location may be the most important aspect. If your financial-aid office is not in a high-traffic area, you'll want to choose a location where the bulletin board will have the most impact on incidental traffic. If your office is located in a busy area, then outside the office will be fine. Consider consulting with your student-affairs and student-activities offices, because they usually have bulletin-board space in highly visible areas. Discuss the possibility of having a bulletin board or sharing space on their boards. Additional areas to consider might be places where students tend to wait in line, such as the cafeteria or when registering for classes, or participating in a housing lottery. If a bulletin board is not posted in these areas, you might create a traveling bulletin board that is on a tripod or has wheels.
Content
There is so much information about debt management that you could change topics on your bulletin board once or twice a month or focus on seasonal content. For example, in November, when students are in the midst of holiday shopping, information about credit-card debt could be effective. During the middle of the spring semester, as seniors prepare to graduate and underclassmen are beginning to look for summer jobs, budgeting and job-search tips would be helpful. Debt management also could be in the forefront for students during spring break, the beginning of the year for freshmen, and financial-aid application and exit-interviews times. At the end of each year or semester, you could provide information that encourages students to do a debt check, such as looking at how much they owe in student-loan debt and what their payments might be.
As you gather print materials to place on the bulletin board, be sure to take advantage of outside resources. Lenders might have materials to help you build bulletin boards. Credit-reporting agencies such as Equifax have materials that will help educate students on credit ratings. The U.S. Department of Education, Consumer Credit Counseling and local unemployment offices are other resources to consider. Don't forget that other offices on campus, like career services, could have important information to include.
Display
An effective bulletin board needs to be eye-catching. Bright color combinations, including high-contrast colors, work well. For example, use a black background with light or bright-colored words instead of a traditional light background with dark words. Make effective use of the space and avoid clutter. Pop culture can be a great resource. Play off the themes of popular commercials and television shows. For example, the HBO show "Six Feet Under" is very popular right now, so the title "Don't Let Debt Put Your Checkbook Six Feet Under!" might just catch your students' attention.
|
|
