About
The Emergency Aid Network (EAN) was established in 2018 to help build a more transparent network of resources for students who may need financial assistance during emergency situations and are experiencing financial obstacles. Emergency aid can be defined as - but is not limited to - grants, loans, food pantries, housing assistance, reduced-cost/low-cost services, and much more.
Guiding Research
The Emergency Aid Network (EAN) was created based on a variety of research and guidance available in the field of higher education. Below you will find a handful of the resources referenced in the creation of the EAN at KU, and the tools and guiding documents that are being used as we move forward in furthering our supports for students.
Emergency Aid Network Campus Partners
Academic Success
Enrollment Management
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Graduate Studies
International Affairs
KU Endowment
Student Affairs
The University Honors Program
Emergency Aid Network Working Groups
Working groups included individual participants from the campus partners listed above.
The fund managers group brings together each campus partner that has an emergency aid fund available for KU students. Fund managers are defined as anyone who assists in reviewing applications and awarding students for a particular emergency fund on campus. This group communicates consistently to ensure that students are being reviewed for all possible funds across campus. This group collaborates to determine awards, next steps, and ongoing improvements to the emergency aid process at KU. The fund managers group now oversees the common application process and development, as well as the overall communication efforts for the Emergency Aid Network.
The communications working group developed the initial communications plan for the public launch of the Emergency Aid Network resources in Fall 2019. They developed sustainable digital and print communication strategies to ensure that students, staff, and faculty would be aware of the Emergency Aid Network and the resources available to those encountering financial obstacles. The communications working group also gathered the content for, and initiated the creation and development of, the Emergency Aid Network website.
The common application working group initiated the development of a single application that students can use to apply to and be considered for multiple emergency funds across campus, making it easier for students to navigate these resources efficiently in times of financial crisis. The common application working group gathered information from each emergency fund to ensure that the needs of all funds and their requirements were met, while also outlining an application that would be easy for a student to complete. Their efforts, along with the feedback from the individual Fund managers, resulted in the Fall 2019 launch of the online Emergency Aid Application that is now available through the AcademicWorks campus scholarship technology platform.
The data & analysis working group developed an outline of important of data points to track for students receiving emergency aid at the University of Kansas as well as a plan for collection and analysis of this data. This group is working towards a campus-wide effort to analyze the overall impact our emergency aid efforts are having on KU students. By collecting and analyzing data from each individual emergency aid fund, this group will work towards developing a report to share with EAN participants and KU leadership that will outline the overall impact emergency aid is having at KU, as well as identifying the overall needs of our students and where there are potential gaps in assistance that may need to be addressed moving forward.