Like many UNC Charlotte staff members during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Brad Yeckley spent the last year working out of his home office. New to the Division of Student Affairs as the assistant director for financial literacy in Student Assistance and Support Services, he juggled virtual meetings, connecting with students, faculty and staff, lecturing and leading webinars, learning his new institution and, most impressively, building an entire financial literacy and wellbeing program where there once was none.
While a financial literacy program is new to UNC Charlotte, Yeckley is no stranger to the field. He arrived at the University from The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) where he spent seven years helping build their robust financial literacy and wellbeing program. He has also done consulting work for other schools and spoke at national conferences on building programs such as these at large institutions.
“Across the country, colleges and universities are beginning to implement programs around financial literacy. My goal is not only to have a good program for UNC Charlotte but to also build the best program in the country,” Yeckley said. “I have been around enough and helped other universities get their programs running to know what we’re looking at doing and what it takes to get there.”
Named the Educator of the Year by the Institute for Financial Literacy during the 2021 Excellence In Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Awards, it’s apparent that Yeckley’s work over the last year at UNC Charlotte has not gone unnoticed.
Yeckley wasted no time getting the University’s financial literacy and wellbeing program underway after he was hired in March 2020 as a contract employee. He logged countless hours doing outreach, introducing himself to faculty to explain his plan for in-classroom programming, delivering presentations and workshops outside of the classroom, providing individualized financial counseling sessions and working with marketing and creative services to develop campus signage, launch a Niner Finances website and create the overall brand identity for the program.
Now a permanent staff member (as of June) and coming into year two of a flourishing program, Yeckley intends to grow the University’s financial literacy and wellbeing offerings even more to meet the dire need for such education amongst UNC Charlotte’s students.
“Finances are always one of the top reasons why a student stops out or decides not to come back,” Yeckley explained. “They run into financial roadblocks that they should have been able to see coming. They should have been able to realize that at the end of their junior year they’re going to run out of financial aid or in their sophomore year they’re no longer going to get that scholarship. They should be planning this out when they get here, just as you would sit down with an advisor and create an academic plan for graduation. I would love for every student to have a financial roadmap to graduation that goes hand in hand with that academic plan. And just like when you create a budget, you don’t just do that budget once. You sit down every once in a while and check it, make some adjustments because things happen.”
Yeckley explained that providing financial literacy programming and resources during all years of a student’s educational career is essential to developing financial wellbeing.
“If you break it down, literacy is the acquisition of the knowledge and skills necessary to make sound decisions. It is the learning component of your financial mindset. You have to take that literacy and create wellness. You teach the literacy component in any way you can, but you also offer the services and resources to really generate financial wellness,” Yeckley said. “Wellness is a combination of the literacy component and also all of the internalized stuff such as your behaviors, habits, cultural experiences and where you learn your money habits. It can’t just be one freshman seminar and then you’re financially literate. It has to be continual throughout the four years.”
To ensure that all students have access to financial literacy and wellbeing education, programs and services as they return to campus this fall, Yeckley will continue providing undergraduate and graduate students with individual coaching sessions. These appointments typically last one hour each and give students an opportunity to discuss financial planning questions or concerns they might have and work with Yeckley to create budgets tailored to their unique needs.
Faculty and staff members can also schedule a workshop with Yeckley for their classes and groups.
For more information and to review valuable financial literacy resources, visit Niner Finances.