Farmingdale State College (FSC) was pleased to recently present an inspiring campus symposium, Financial Resilience and Mental Health, exploring the essential connection between financial literacy and mental wellbeing. Held in the Campus Center Ballroom, the lively academic forum was attended by FSC students, faculty and staff and illuminated the ways in which financial knowledge influences mental health outcomes across diverse populations. 

The daylong event was generously offered through the State University of New York (SUNY) Conversations in the Disciplines (CID) grant program, which aims to bring together SUNY faculty from across the system to examine new trends, address changes and challenges, and review promising research findings and pedagogical practices in a wide range of disciplines and fields. Since 1965, the highly esteemed program has supported over 500 conversations and has powered the cross-fertilization of ideas and collaborations across the system and beyond.

“This program on financial literacy and metal health could come at a better time,” said FSC School of Business Dean Richard Vogel, PhD. “Individuals and households across Long Island struggle regularly with decisions on how to spend and allocate their hard-earned income as they face the pressures of rising prices, pay for unexpected medical care and household emergencies, and plan and save for major life and family events, education and college for their children, and long-term retirement. Financial education is one of the key ways that we can help individuals work through these issues, understand their options, and reduce their overall anxiety.”

FSC’s symposium welcomed professionals, educators, and researchers from across the region to share their expertise throughout two speaker sessions and two panel discussions, which featured topics ranging from how emotional regulation effects spending decisions, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, financial literacy and vulnerability among students, and resources for financial education, as well as the recent research of Associate Professor Meeghan Rogers, PhD, who studied financial vulnerability among FSC’s working students, Assistant Professor of Business Management Bruno Kamdem, PhD, who studied adaptive AI for financial decision-making as a reinforcement learning framework for college student behavior, and Economics Lecturer Louis Chan, PhD, who examined the challenges and opportunities for students taking personal finance courses. 

“When we think about the cost of college, most people think about tuition, but costs actually go beyond tuition--there’s housing, transportation, food. All that can drive real financial stressors,” said Kimberly Liao, MPH, CHES, Campus Mental Health Services prevention specialist and assistant professor of health promotion and wellness, during her presentation, The Hidden Risk Factor: Addressing Financial Stress in Student Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention. In her remarks, Liao shared about her recent research with the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports studying FSC student employment and how work demands can impact academic success. “So, what does financial stress do to the brain and behavior? It really has a true impact. When our stress levels are raised it actually reduces our mental bandwidth, essentially meaning how much space we have in our minds. When the mental bandwidth of our students is reduced, that impairs their focus and their self-regulation.”

In a special keynote address, author Antony Paul, recently retired senior regulatory supervisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and certified mental health provider shared how community interconnectedness impacts financial literacy and public health just as a colony of aspen trees can be supported by a single, underground root system. “When there is collective learning, we all support each other,” he said.

“It is a privilege and it is also my personal duty to be part of this conversation today,” added Paul. “Financial stress is widespread and we must bridge the gap. Let’s all be part of the solution and break the stigma—it’s okay to seek assistance. You are not alone if you have experienced financial uncertainty. And the benefits for mental health through financial literacy is a vital concern for everyone.”

For Professor of Economics Xu Zhang, PhD, a member of the symposium’s organizing committee, putting the event together was very rewarding.

“I’m inspired by how important it is to equip our students with the necessary knowledge and also the necessary coping strategies in terms of personal financial challenges,” she said. “We reached out to faculty members across FSC as well as campuses around the region and worked together to identify the most urgent, most pressing topics that students wanted to hear about today. The top thing I care about is our students. They are our future. And if we can help them to develop positive financial behavior, they are going to be very successful in the future.”

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