Emergency Response Helping Highlanders Focus on the Finish Line

By Neil Harvey

One of the few welcome upsides of an emergency is that, once the crisis is resolved, better ways of handling a problem often reveal themselves.

For example: An issue that arose in 2016, but eventually sparked a significant, beneficial and trendsetting initiative by the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).

CEHD Dean Tamara Wallace recalled working with a student who was facing an unexpected financial obligation, one that could have snowballed into preventing him from completing his degree program.

“Although there were some resources available to the student through other university offices, it wasn’t enough to completely address the need,” Wallace said. “We ended up reaching out to financial aid to help us with options that would keep the student in school.”

Wallace said the experience inspired her to organize and establish a means by which CEHD could help its students directly. CEHD soon became Radford’s first college to establish its own emergency fund, which provides support for those needing general financial assistance not related to tuition.

It’s a valuable campus resource that, since its inception, is fueled by the generosity of Radford University’s donors.

“Our students are hardworking young people who do everything they can to meet their own needs, but sometimes there are situations where they need help mitigating challenges. This is what the fund is for,” Wallace said.

Over the past several years, CEHD has offered direct financial assistance to nearly 40 students, and has provided resources and gift cards to help cover food and other necessities. One of the students who got help was able to replace textbooks that were lost in a fire. Another needed money for car repairs, in order to commute to an internship one hour away; with the assistance she received, she completed her program and has since been offered a fulltime position with that organization.

“Dean Wallace was leading the way when she established this fund,” said Director of Annual Giving Carolyn Clayton. “She was really doing it out of a place of deep care and concern. She has been able to save students and keep them on the path to graduation, whether it’s paying a medical bill or a month of rent.

“It’s just a way of saying, ‘We’re not going to let this challenge be your obstacle.’”

Clearly, the school’s numerous supporters agree. During Radford’s 2021 “Build the Hive” crowdfunding campaign, Highlanders came together and gave to CEHD’s emergency fund in impressive numbers. CEHD’s fund won the university’s “Honeypot” award for drawing the most donors overall, an accomplishment that earned it an additional monetary prize courtesy of the Radford University Foundation.

The fund also achieved the “Sweet Start Challenge” for raising the most individual contributions on the first day of the drive, and it placed second overall on that year’s leaderboard for total amount raised. Donors were similarly generous in 2022 as well.

Radford University’s other individual colleges and offices have long offered options to help students leap across economic pitfalls, but the past several years have seen the rise of still more such opportunities.

The Artis College of Science and Technology launched its emergency fund in April 2020, and a year later, the Waldron College Student-Use Emergency Fund came into being.

Those efforts, while still relatively new, have also benefitted significantly from financial assistance contributed during school crowdfunding efforts.

Other recent student resources include The School of Nursing Emergency Need, established in October 2020, and the Radford University Carilion Emergency Fund, which emerged in May 2021. The Division of Student Affairs also offers the Highlander Student Emergency Fund, to provide money toward food and housing.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts and the Davis College of Business and Economics increased their means of supplying help through their general funds.

Davis College Dean Joy Bhadury said he recognized a need in the spring of 2020 as the pandemic gained traction. Part-time jobs that help countless young scholars cover their day-to-day costs became more and more scarce.

“It immediately became apparent to us that many of our students had become extremely adversely impacted,” Bhadury said.

The Davis College Advisory Board, a 25-member panel that offers business students guidance and various forms of support, came together to donate to unrestricted funds for emergency needs.

“This is in no way, shape or form supposed to be financial aid,” Bhadury explained. “This is to close that last mile gap of economic needs that are created by, ‘I can’t afford the textbook,’ or ‘rents have gone up’ or ‘I am in a very sudden jam.’”

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Even as pandemic restrictions have mostly lifted, Bhadury said the advisory board has additional donations on-hand and plans to keep offering this form of assistance into the future.

“Students’ needs will continue, and when they happen, the need is very, very real, so this fund will continue,” he said.

Direct gifts to https://inspire.radford.edu/help and select “other” adding the college or fund of your choice. Contact ruadvancement@radford.edu for more information about how to support these projects.