Ayala-Barker Hired Into New Student Financial Literacy and Academic Success Advocate Role

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Ana Ayala-Barker

Ana Ayala-Barker has been selected to fill the newly created student financial literacy and academic success advocate role at the Student Success Center. She will begin working in this new position immediately. Her new title will be assistant director: academic outreach and financial advocate. 

One of the greatest challenges students face enrolling and persisting in college is funding their education. For Pell-eligible students, these challenges can be even greater, with lack of financial support jeopardizing their success and persistence at the university. This newly created position will offer targeted support to underserved Pell-eligible Arkansans with the mission of helping them maximize their time and money in college. As a former admissions counselor, academic adviser, student success advocate and first-generation student and Pell recipient, Ayala-Barker is familiar with the challenges this cohort of students faces and has counseled and advocated for them for years in her various roles.  

"Over the years, I've seen too many situations where students, especially Pell-eligible students, leave the university due to financial hardship," Ayala-Barker said. "If we can offer earlier intervention for these students by helping them develop personalized financial and degree completion plans, I believe we can help many of them stay on track and realize their dreams of achieving a college degree. I look forward to continuing much of the work I've already been doing in this new role, but focusing more on underserved Pell-eligible students—a cohort that can benefit greatly from this wrap-around support."  

Ayala-Barker's responsibilities will be multi-faceted and include supporting underserved Pell-eligible Arkansans with navigating financial challenges and maintaining satisfactory progress toward degree completion. Helping students build financial literacy is also a goal by ensuring they understand how to fund their educations and maximize their aid. Having this cross-trained position within the Academic Support & Outreach Program in Student Success will allow students to find support for discussing how their academic and financial plans are impacted together, creating financial plans for future academic semesters, and understanding scholarship, grant and loan options. Being able to discuss their financial need alongside their educational goals and career paths in a comprehensive way offers a more holistic support network for the student.   

"Ana brings over a decade of valuable institutional knowledge and success as a proven student advocate to this new role," said Trevor Francis, associate vice provost and director of student success. "Throughout her career at the university, she has helped countless students navigate the complexities of funding their educations and make progress toward completing their degrees. In this new targeted role, we believe her impact will be amplified, helping more Arkansans achieve their goals of earning a college degree."  

Ayala-Barker holds two degrees from the U of A, a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a Master of Education in adult and lifelong learning.