Contents

Notes from the Collaborative

A Note from the Collaborative Director

Defining Collaboration: Collaborative Undergraduate Research Across the Disciplines

Collaborative Opportunities

Research and Academic Travel Funding Opportunities

Academic Travel Award Recipients

Celebrating Student and Faculty/Staff Collaborations

Student Profiles

Important Dates

Mar. 25, 2011 Collaborative Summer-Fall Grant applications due

Mar. 31 - Apr. 2, 2011 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)

Apr. 18, 2011 Collaborative Continuation Grant applications due

May 2, 2011 Student Academic Travel Grant and Attendee Grant applications due

Student Profile: Jessica Richards

For my first two years at St. Norbert College I worked on a student-faculty collaboration project with Dr. Jason Senjem. In April 2009 I went to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Montana to present my research with our project, Shades of Green: Entrepreneurial Influences on Environmental Practice Adoption. Two other students from St. Norbert College also attended the conference, including Kevin Steiner, who presented his project on the St. Norbert printing budget. After presenting his research, Kevin asked me to work with him as he continues his research.

Up until the fall of 2008 St. Norbert College students were allowed to print unlimitedly from college computers. In the fall of 2008, St. Norbert began charging students 4 cents per page printed and imposed a printing budget. Each student was given $14, the equivalent of 350 pages, and for each additional page printed above the 350 pages, 4 cents was charged to his or her account. The juniors and seniors, classes of 2010 and 2011, had unlimited printing when they began attending St. Norbert College and then a budget was imposed on them. The sophomores and freshmen, classes of 2012 and 2013, always had a printing budget while attending St. Norbert College. Our study was to evaluate changes and behaviors of student printing and budgeting, especially within genders and within the classes.

The literature review stated that college students budget their money differently than non-college students and the more knowledge they have, the more effectively they budget their money. Also, research indicated that women were more likely to have a budget but also more likely to accumulate debt then men. No relationship was seen between the accumulation of debt and demographics, GPA, or number of hours worked, although their perceptions of debt were different.

To obtain data an 18-question survey was distributed by email to the 2,050 students at St. Norbert College. 550 responded, giving a 26.8% response rate. Consistent with previous research, women reported to be more likely to have a budget and a planer, while men reported to be more likely to eat out. However, there was no significant difference between the genders in when they ran out of their printing budget or how much was left on their account at the end of the year. Between the classes, upperclassmen were more likely to have a budget but there was no significant difference of having a daily planner. Although there was no difference in awareness of the printing budget, juniors and seniors were more likely to spend the budget in its entirety while freshman and sophomores were more likely to leave a balance remaining on their account. Overall, our study finds that women are better budgeters and planners and students become better budgeters as they mature. Therefore, the college should investigate inculcating the younger male population.

Kevin Steiner, two professors at St. Norbert College—Dr. Matthew Stollak and Dr. Amy Vandenberg—and I wrote a paper entitled "Student Budgeting and Spending Behaviors: A Comparative Study," which was accepted into the Academic and Business Research Institute Conference. This also gave us an opportunity to present at the conference in Orlando, Florida. At the conference Kevin Steiner and I presented our findings while Dr. Stollak supervised. The process of writing the paper enhanced important skills, such as research for the literary review and concise, clear writing skills. The presentation enhanced my skills of presentation and preparation for a presentation. I am now more aware of what questions will be asked and what is the clearest way to present information. These skills can be used any time I need to present information formally or informally. As a whole, the project improved my researching, writing, and presenting skills, as well as improving St. Norbert College's knowledge of its students' budgeting.