Transcript BMurrell-FrasierCapstonePPT09-18-2009

Presenting Budgeting & Financial
Management Skills in the Community
An Analysis of the C.A.S.H. Coach Program
Submitted as a Capstone Project in partial fulfillment
of a Master of Science Degree in Professional Studies
at the Rochester Institute of Technology
Presented By: Beverly Murrell-Frasier
Submission Date: September 18, 2009
Personal Introduction
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Senior Accountant, American Red Cross, Rochester, NY, 05/08-Present
Senior Accountant, R.I.T., Rochester, NY, 09/98-06/07
Accountant, Urban League of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 01/96-09/98
EDUCATION & TRAINING
M.S., Business Mgt. & Customer Svc, R.I.T., 2009
B.S., Accounting, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY, 1991
Special Training:
Jackson Hewitt, Rochester, NY, Accelerated Tax Training Course, 1999
H&R Block, Rochester, NY, Basic Tax Training Course, 1992
Personal Introduction
Summary of Qualifications:
Currently responsible for the financial administration and financial reporting
for 5 American Red Cross Chapters including Northern, NJ, Cayuga, NY,
Sullivan, NY, and Livingston, NY
Facilitated budgeting, financial management and accounting seminars, classes,
and workshops. Performed accounting functions for restricted funds, including
grants, gifts, designated funds, endowment earnings, etc. for over 10 years in
non-profit organizations.
Handled general ledger reconciliation, accounts payable processing, accounts
receivable duties at the university level for 9 years.
Familiar with OMB Circulars A21, A110 and A133 Audit and Grant
Administration Guidelines.
Overview
•Course Concentrations
•Problem Background
•Problem Statement
•Project Description
•Project Results
•Next Steps
•Lessons Learned
•Thanks & Acknowledgements
•References & Resources
Course Concentrations
Required Courses:
Course Title
Date Completed
Context & Trends
Capstone Project
Fall 2005
Summer 2009
Concentration A:
Course Title
Date Completed
Organizational Behavior
Managing Org. Change
Behavioral Skills for Mgrs.
Business Ethics
Winter 2005
Fall 2008
Fall 2006
Fall 2008
Course Concentrations
Concentration B:
Course Title
Date Completed
Elements of Service Mgt.
Customer Relationship Mgt.
Breakthrough Thinking
Service Performance Metrics
Fall 2005
Summer 2009
Summer 2006
Spring 2009
Electives:
Course Title
Date Completed
Public Administration & Management
Creating Technical Proposals
Fall 2006
Fall 2008
Problem Background:
 Overall lack of adequate budgeting & financial management skills
 Low-income & underprivileged individuals and families lack the
resources to learn budgeting skills
 Local (NYS) & National school requirements do not list accounting
courses in the curriculum
 Students complete educational training w/o taking personal finance
courses
 Leads to poor spending habits and bad financial decisions
 Current economic crisis has caused many families to lose homes/jobs
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Problem Background:
 J.P. Morgan Chase purchased the failing Bear Sterns (2008)
 The government seized control of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
 The fiscal budget carried a deficit until the Clinton Administration
 President Obama noted that “our economy could fall $1 trillion short
of its capacity
 Local programs such as C.A.S.H. were developed to assist citizens of
the local community w/ financial hardships
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Problem Statement:
 This Capstone Project addresses the financial hardships faced by low
income and underprivileged members of the Rochester-area and
surrounding community, which is partially an end-result of inadequate
budgeting and financial management skills.
 The project also provides an analysis of the impact of the C.A.S.H.
Coach Program (Funded by United Way and Collaborating Partners)
on the finances of individuals who participated in the nine-month
program.
 I participated in the nine-month C.A.S.H. Coach Program as a coach,
and also worked with the Assistant Director of C.A.S.H. to perform a
detailed analysis in order to determine whether or not the provision of
community-based budgeting and financial management programs are
truly an asset to Rochester, NY and the surrounding community.
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Project Description:
Project Timeline
 Volunteered as a C.A.S.H. Coach from Sep 2008-May 2009
 Conducted a survey analysis of C.A.S.H. Partners, June-August 2009
Project Objectives
 Phase I provided a marginal solution to the financial hardships faced by many low
income and underprivileged individuals, by providing one-on-one coaching and
advisement through the C.A.S.H. (Creating Assets Savings and Hope) Coach Program
 Assisted one individual with improving their finances
 The C.A.S.H. partner learned how to develop a budget, pay bills on-time, save more
$$, make better purchasing decisions
 Phase II of the project consisted of a survey analysis of former C.A.S.H. Coach
Program Partners
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Project Description:
The C.A.S.H. Coach Program used the following tools to
measure the success of the program:
Monthly Session Reports
Net Worth Calculation (Compared partner’s net worth
at the end of the program to their beginning net worth)
Total Dollars Saved
Decreased Debt
Increased Credit Scores
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Project Results:
 In addition to the tools provided by the C.A.S.H. Coach Program, I
conducted a survey analysis of former C.A.S.H. Partners
 The survey is justified per the Balanced Scorecard Approach as a
valid measurement tool
 Contacted former partners that participated between 2006-2008 to
survey their experience with the program
 The survey had a response rate of 36%
 The C.A.S.H. Program Coordinators were very satisfied with the
results
 The 20-30% failure rate covers individuals that did not complete
the entire nine- month program
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 2 Results
22%
11%
11%
22%
34%
Family Matters -Adoption Process
Health / Disability
Personal Reasons
Philosophical differences w/ Coach
School/Work Schedule
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 6 Results
9%
22%
14%
Budgeting Tools
Coach Meetings
Credit Information
Food
11%
Group Meetings
Guest Speakers
4%
29%
11%
Tracking Tools
The availability of food allowed partners to come straight from
work or home w/o worrying about preparing dinner.
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 7 Results
13%
17%
8%
8%
4%
4%
8%
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38%
Domestic/Family
Education/ Work
Health
Low Income/Unemployment
Transportation
Health
Philosophical Differences w/Coach
Other
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 9 Results
20%
2%
12%
59%
7%
Budgeting Tools
Credit Report Information
Managing Checking /Savings Acct
Tracking Tools for Spending
Wheels to Work
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Survey - Question 10
Additional Tools
Stricter guidelines for partners
4
More Debt Management Information
1
More Coach Meetings
6
Partners should share specific finance info
2
Add Retirement as a Discussion Topic
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
# of Partners Selected Tool
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Project Results:
Current Financial Position:
(Better, Worse, or the Same as before entering the C.A.S.H. Coach Program)
C.A.S.H. Survey - Question 11 Results
15%
Better
15%
Worse
Same
70%
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Project Results:
% of Success Attributable to
C.A.S.H.
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 12 Results
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
# of Partners
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Project Results:
C.A.S.H. Coach Program Survey - Question 13 Results
Program Rating
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
# of Partners
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Project Results:
Conclusion:
 The C.A.S.H. Coach Program has yielded positive results in the
community
 78% success rate among previous C.A.S.H. partners that were polled
 70% of former partners have a better financial position
 61% of former partners attributed 80-100% of their financial success to
the C.A.S.H. Coach Program
 94% of former partner gave the program a rating of 8 or higher (on a
scale of 1-10)
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Next Steps:
Recommendations for the C.A.S.H. Coach Program:
Detailed screening process for applicants
More emphasis on goal-setting
Stricter guidelines for partners
More debt management information
Add Retirement Plans as a discussion topic
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Next Steps:
Future Plans for Beverly Murrell-Frasier:
Obtain grants in order to continue the initiatives set
forth in this project
Contact the local school district to add a personal
finance course to the curriculum
Contact the Dept. of Education to add a personal
finance course to the curriculum
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Lessons Learned:
Successes :
 The overall curriculum was successfully completed
 Both Phases of the Capstone Project were completed according to plan
Improvements:
 Review original Capstone Project Proposal prior to completing coursework
to make sure the proposed project is still applicable
 Meet with Program Coordinator earlier to discuss Capstone Project
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Lessons Learned:
Recommendations to Future Capstone Students :
 Complete coursework for the program as soon as possible to avoid
curriculum changes due to eliminated courses
 Review original Capstone Project Proposal prior to completing coursework
to make sure the proposed project is still applicable
 Meet with Program Coordinator prior to completing coursework to discuss
Capstone Project ideas
 Review the feasibility of the project prior to completing coursework (my
original project proposal was not feasible considering the structure of the
program, although it was initially accepted)
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Thanks & Acknowledgements:
 Thanks to my Lord & Savior for his guidance and wisdom
 Special thanks to my family for their support, especially my
mom, Rev. Johnnye L. Murrell-Shaw, D.D. for her
encouragement, and my husband, Robert Frasier, Jr. for his
patience and understanding
 Candice Lucas, Assistant Director of C.A.S.H. and Chad
Rieflin, Credit Education Bureau Director, Coordinators of the
C.A.S.H. Coach Program
 Barb Lisena, Accounting Manager, American Red Cross, for
serving as my Project Consultant
 Dr. Samuel McQuade, CMS Graduate Coordinator
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References :
1.
2.
Ahrens, F. (2009, January 1). 2008 Our Date with Disaster. The Washington Post, D.1.
Bajaj, B. & Leonhardt, D. (2008, December 19). 1997 Tax Break on Home Sales May Have Helped Inflate Bubble. The New
York Times, A.1.
3. Fox, J. (2008, December 17). Person of the Year 2008: Runners up Henry Paulson. Time, 172 (26), 86-87.
4.
Andrews, E.L. (2009, January 8). A Crisis Trumps Constraint. The New York Times, B1, B5.
5.
Rucker, P., Kane P., & Kornblut, A. (2009, January 25). Obama Details Recovery Plan. The Washington Post, A.1.
6.
Dunleavy, M.P. (2008, August). 5 Most Common Money Mistakes. Good Housekeeping, 247 (2), 103-108.
7.
Palmeri, C. (2008, November 10). Debit-Card Evolution. Business Week, 4107, 23-24.
8.
Mangla, I. S. (2007, December). Are Your Kids on Track? Money Magazine, 36 (12), 48
9.
King, Diane (2007, November). All About Business. Black Enterprise, 38 (4), 71-72.
10. Empire Justice Center website. Retrieved February 25, 2009 from: http://www.empirejustice.org/New/CASH/20082009%20CASH%20Volunteer%20Brochure%202.pdf
11. Rochester, New York. Retrieved February 25, 2009 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_New_York
12. President Clinton announces another record surplus. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from:
13. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/09/27/clinton.surplus/
14. Diploma Guide.com website. Retrieved September 7, 2009
15. http://diplomaguide.com/articles/Earning_Your_High_School_Diploma_-__New_York.html
16. C.A.S.H. Coalition Information. Retrieved 09/07/09:
17. http://www.empirejustice.org/cash/
18. Education in the United States website. Retrieved 09/07/09:
19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States#Basic_curricular_structure
20. http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/aboutthebalancedscorecard
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