Last month, Kennesaw State launched a new “Financial Hardship” website to help students dealing with issues of homelessness, financial strain and mental health struggles, among others.
The new website, financialhardship.kennesaw.edu, is available to any KSU undergraduate or graduate student to provide support for students in need emergency assistance, according to KSU News.
The goal of the project is to concentrate a plethora of resources into one accessible help center.
Two of the directors of the financial hardship program include founding director of Campus Awareness, Resource & Empowerment Services Marcy Stidum and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students Michael Sanseviro.
“Anytime we identify a student need in any of our offices, sometimes it’s a need that an individual office can just handle themselves, which is great,” Sanseviro said. “Sometimes the need is greater than one office or that office might not be the exact right fit of resources, but there could be other great resource options that exist in another office … This new opportunity helps us formalize it.”
The website is meant to help students find the resources for their individual solutions instead of bouncing between departments.
“Informing students about their resources is half the battle,” Stidum said. “Knowing these resources are available will better help them in figuring out their issues and still be able to reach their graduation.”
Whether the hardships are short-term or long-term, the website offers assistance for students dealing with a range of issues — from the stresses of school to finding the means to pay for the next semester’s tuition.
Stidum and Sanseviro are hopeful that the exposure of the website in the coming months will help to attract potential donors and sponsors.
A challenge of the project includes fine-tuning the application to help every student visiting the website. Stidum and Sanseviro both agree that a student’s FAFSA information may impact their eligibility for assistance, but it would not make them ineligible.
“Think of all the things in life that can change from that point in time to today,” Sanseviro said. “I don’t think students realize that financial aid can be fluid and evolve based on circumstances.”
Sanseviro said that there are several experts looking into a student’s FAFSA and putting together an individual assistance plan that will provide the most benefit — some benefits that the student may not have known about.
So far, the website has seen 40 applicants. Both directors have hope that the program’s influence can expand to current students helping future KSU students.
“We want our students to know that it takes a community to give you to and through school, and that’s what the financial hardship page is for — to be a part of your community,” Stidum said.
The website is a collaboration between the offices of the Dean of Students, Financial Aid, CARE Services and Scholarships.
KSU is one of many universities nationwide that are providing emergency aid or assistance as part of a growing national trend to support students in their collegiate journeys, according to KSU News.
Abi Marmurowicz contributed to this article.
