Director - Financial Aid

Atrium Health; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic Director of Financial Aid to lead its financial aid office. This role is pivotal in ensuring compliance with Title IV federal aid programs and enhancing the student experience through effective financial assistance strategies. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in financial aid administration, strong leadership skills, and a commitment to quality customer service. Join a collaborative environment where your expertise will directly impact student success and retention. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of financial aid at a respected institution in the healthcare education sector.

Benefits

Health Insurance

Retirement Plan

Professional Development

Flexible Work Hours

Paid Time Off

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in student financial aid administration.
• Strong knowledge of Title IV aid programs and regulations.
• Experience with financial aid forecasting and budgeting.

Responsibilities

• Manage the financial aid office and oversee student aid processes.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state financial aid regulations.
• Provide leadership and training to financial aid staff.

Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Organizational Skills

Detail-oriented Skills

Customer Service

Financial Aid Knowledge

Communication Skills

Education

Baccalaureate Degree

Master's Degree

Tools

Jenzabar

SONIS

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Outlook

Job description

Overview

JOB SUMMARY
The director of financial aid, responsible to the dean of student affairs and enrollment management, coordinates, and awards Title IV federal student aid funds and various other forms of financial assistance to the student population of Carolinas College of Health Sciences. The director also serves as the Title IV compliance officer and VA certifying official.

The office of financial aid has a significant impact on the image, recruitment and retention imperatives of the college. As the leader of the office of financial aid, the director provides high-level leadership for a core function of the enrollment management area and contributes to an improved student experience through continual improvement efforts within the area of financial aid, and collaborative efforts across the department and the campus.

The director of financial aid must possess an in-depth knowledge of higher education and an extensive understanding of the importance of the role financial aid plays in enrollment management. The director should be an expert on state and federal Title IV federal financial aid programs, policies, and issues, and ensure the college’s compliance with all student financial aid programs funded by federal, state, local and private funds to ensure that eligible and qualified students receive qualifying financial support.

Duties include managerial responsibility for the entire process of awarding student aid funds from the application stage through the eventual withdrawal or graduation of each student enrolled in the college. The director prepares student budgets, conducts needs analyses, monitors file compliance, awards funds, reconciles disbursements and monitors federal fund account balances. The director is also responsible for ensuring the college complies with federal policy, regulations and accreditation standards.

Minimum Required Qualifications:
•Ability to work cooperatively with people in a diplomatic manner.
•Excellent written and organizational skills.
•Detail-oriented skills.
•Baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college required.
• Experience administering in compliance with and a comprehensive knowledge of Title IV aid programs, regulations and policies.
• At least five to seven (5-7) years of progressively responsible professional experience that includes administrative experience in student financial aid.
• At least four (4) years of supervisory and management experience in the financial aid area.
•Previous experience using technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the financial aid process, especially performing financial aid management and packaging applications.
•Experience working with financial aid forecasting and budgeting processes, packaging, compliance and fiscal accountability.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to quality customer service and ability to work in diverse environments and with diverse populations of students.
•Strong computer skills - Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Desired Qualifications:
•Previous experience performing all functions of a financial aid office.
•A master's degree from an accredited university or college.
•Ten (10) years of experience administering federal, state and institutional financial aid.
•Previous experience using Jenzabar, SONIS.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
Promotes Carolina College’s core values and standards of excellence through respectful communication, maintenance of a safe and professional environment, synergistic partnership with those we serve and anticipation of students’, colleagues’ and customers’ needs.

•Assumes responsibility for own actions.
•Serves as a role model and/or mentor to students and teammates.
•Projects a professional image in dress, speech and behavior including demonstrating respect for others.
•Represents the department and the college in a positive manner.
•Maintains confidentiality in all aspects of job performance.
•Provides accessibility to students and teammates by maintaining office hours and communicating in a timely manner.
•Serves as a financial aid advisor to support students’ success and continued enrollment.
•Participates in college functions (e.g., teammate/departmental meetings, new student orientation, graduation) as appropriate and assigned.
•Engages in active college committee work to include advising student clubs or organizations (waived for PRN teammates and those with fewer than 30 assigned
hours per week).
•Fosters beneficial relationships and supports the greater community through service activities.
•Completes relevant training, as required (e.g., annual continuing education (ACE) modules, Title IX and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) training, Mental health first aid training).
•Complies with Atrium Healthcare’s clinical requirements (e.g., tuberculosis screening tests, annual influenza vaccination), as required.
•Maintains confidentiality regarding to student records and college operations in compliance with FERPA and privacy obligations.
Oversees and manages the Office of Financial Aid.
•Manages the administrative, fiscal, human resource, computing, planning and operational functions of the office of financial aid.
•Oversees the daily operations of the financial aid area.
•Supervises and trains staff performing financial aid functional activities.
•Manages the processing of financial aid applications and the reconciliation/verification of data that may create inconsistencies with the awarding process.
•Creates and makes literature and information regarding financial programs available to inquiring students and prepares major office communications regarding financial aid.
•Works collaboratively with faculty and other college staff to address issues that impact financial aid policy and interpretation, provide updates, and strategically leverage financial aid toward achieving the college’s targeted enrollment goals.
•Answers and ensures staff answer questions regarding student eligibility, application processing, and disbursement schedules.
•Performs and ensures staff perform needs analysis to determine student eligibility levels.
•Creates student budgeting models to arrive at a cost of attendance for eligible students.
•Awards and ensures staff award student aid funds and applies or oversees all financial aid awards to the tuition account of each student.
•Aggressively orchestrates and ensures staff adhere to the college loan default management program in order to keep the college default rate at a minimum level.
•Completes annual Fiscal Operation Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) report of funds awarded and requests funds for future award years.
Directs the student loan process for all college programs.
•Ensures financial aid practices of staff comply with college, state and federal policies, procedures and regulations.
•Develops/updates and provides consumer information and other correspondence to students regarding financial aid programs (to include Atrium Health loans and scholarships) and reviews all literature to ensure the accuracy of the financial aid information before its distribution.
•Utilizes the various federal electronic programs to process applications, obtain need analysis, and report payment information to the Department of Education.
•Oversees the spending of federal and state financial aid funding.
•Monitors the satisfactory progress of students receiving financial aid to ensure they remain eligible to receive financial aid assistance.
•Maintains the Net Price Calculator for the college website.
•Responsible for the gainful employment reporting of the college.
•Serves as the VA Certifying Official and completes all required reports.
•Supervises the college federal work-study program and maintains records for auditing purposes.
•Actively participates, maintains and provides information for all financial aid program audits.
•Maintains the college’s compliance with Title IV federal regulations and accreditation standards.
•Updates the financial aid policy manual as needed, which lists the official college policies regarding student aid.
•Conducts periodic internal audits of the college’s financial aid practices to ensure compliance with state and federal policies, procedures, and regulations, and coordinates an annual external audit of student aid programs to determine compliance with Title IV federal regulations.
•Participates in regional and national student aid organizations to gain knowledge regarding student aid administration trends.
•Maintains accurate financial aid records, adhering to the Department of Education’s Title IV policies, procedures and regulations Assists with the development of policies and procedures regarding operational needs of the college and the department.
•Works closely with other staff in the department of student affairs and enrollment management to notify accepted students of financial aid availability, monitor student withdrawals and participate in student orientations.
•Assists with organizing various functions within the college regarding student or financial issues per the directive of the dean of student affairs and enrollment management.
•Participates in college committee structure.
•Submits budget requests to the dean of student affairs and enrollment management annually.
•Composes correspondence and reports as needed and assigned.
•Implements recommendations of the IE plan and those of various regulatory agencies, as appropriate.
•Assesses the effectiveness of financial aid positions and as needed, develops goals and strategies for any improvements.
•Performs other duties as assigned.
Maintains professional competence for financial aid staff, performs continuing education activities, and evaluates performance of direct reports.
•Maintains professional competence, including system- and college-assigned requirements.
•Possesses and continually develops position-specific knowledge and requirements by staying abreast of federal student aid policy revisions and implementing changes to the college’s financial aid policies and procedures in compliance with any changes.
•Works with the dean of student affairs and enrollment management manager to identify and schedule needed training to increase the knowledge and experience of the financial aid area.
•On an ongoing basis, participates in appropriate continuing education, training offerings or other scholarly activities (e.g., certification training, formal education, membership in professional organizations, conference attendance, presentation or publications).
•Annually evaluates own and staff’s job performance and goal attainment to evaluate and determine performance and needed improvements.
•Counsels staff regarding any performance-related issues prior to their annual review as necessary and in compliance with college policy.
•Conducts annual performance appraisals and corrective actions for subordinate employees.
Uses, oversees and manages the operation of technology that facilitates or impacts financial aid processes.
•Effectively and appropriately uses and ensures staff use computer technology appropriate to their financial aid positions.
•Coordinates all upgrades, rollovers, and implementation of student database system (Jenzabar) or any new technology that impacts the financial aid area.
•Manages all aspects of the Financial Aid Electronic Data Exchange with the Department of Education, state reporting system, and institutional financial aid management system.
•Collaborates with other staff in the department to ensure technology in their areas will not impact the area of financial aid.
•Provides training for staff on all technology that is used for financial aid tracking and awarding.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
•Ability to work cooperatively with people in a diplomatic manner.
•Excellent written and organizational skills.
•Detail-oriented skills.
•Baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college required.
• Experience administering in compliance with and a comprehensive knowledge of Title IV aid programs, regulations, and policies.
• At least five to seven (5-7) years of progressively responsible professional experience that includes administrative experience in student financial aid.
• At least four (4) years of supervisory and management experience in the financial aid area.
•Previous experience using technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the financial aid process, especially financial aid management and packaging applications.
•Experience working with financial aid forecasting and budgeting processes, packaging, compliance, and fiscal accountability.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to quality customer service and ability to work in diverse environments and with diverse populations of students.
•Strong computer skills - Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook.