Director of Financial Aid

Southeastern College; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

401(k) matching

Dental Insurance

Health Insurance

Vision Insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Southeast College is seeking a Director of Financial Aid to lead the campus financial aid operations and oversee a team of administrators. The role ensures accurate packaging, compliance with laws, and timely processing of funds in coordination with OOED and the Bursar.

Responsibilities include reviewing packages, reconciling complex financing issues, and guiding staff through daily activities, with an emphasis on accuracy and student readiness for each semester.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage the financial aid process
• Ensure all prospective students are provided with basic overview of financial aid process
• Ensure students are provided with all available options and packed
• Ensure students understand packaging
• Ensure all regulations and laws are followed
• Coordinate with other campus departments
• Review scanned packages for quality and provide feedback to Financial Aid Administrators
• Reconcile complex financing issues
• Submit to Student Financial Services (OOED) for review and processing
• Work with OOED to reconcile problems
• Work with Bursar to ensure posting of cash payments
• Review monthly start date reports
• Review monthly account balance reports; investigate balance issues, monitor for defaults, follow-up on defaults
• Track Sally Mae, government/private scholarships, grants and private loan postings
• Track drops and academic dismissals
• Re-package continuing students
• Ensure exit interviews are conducted and balances cleared
• Motivate staff and schedule hours; monitor activities; provide feedback; conduct weekly staff meetings
• Provide coaching and training programs for staff development

Job description

OVERVIEW

The role of the Director of Financial Aid is to ensure the appropriate and accurate processing of student financial aid packages.

BUSINESS CONTRIBUTIONS

The Director of Financial Aid oversees a staff of financial aid administrators who work to ensure students are properly funded, packaged, and prepared to start each semester. The Director of Financial Aid accomplishes this through:

• Ensuring staff are up-to-date on current laws, regulations, and financing options
• Reviewing all financial aid packages for accuracy
• Working with the OOED to ensure accurate and timely posting of funds

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Overseeing Student Financing

It is the responsibility of the Director of Financial Aid to oversee the student financing process and ensure students are packaged and prepared to begin class. To accomplish this, The Director of Financial Aid must:

• Oversee and manage the financial aid process
• Ensure all prospective students are provided with basic overview of financial aid process
• Ensure students are provided with all available options and packed
• Ensure students understand packaging
• Ensure all regulations and laws are followed
• Coordinate with other campus departments

Reviewing and Following-up on Student Packaging

The Director of Financial Aid is responsible for ensuring that all student packaging is completed accurately and submitted for processing. To accomplish this, the Director of Financial Aid must:

• Review scanned packages for quality and provide any feedback to Financial Aid Administrators as necessary
• Reconcile any complex financing issues
• Submit to Student Financial Services (OOED) for review and processing
• Work with Student Financial Services (OOED) to reconcile any problems
• Work with Bursar to ensure posting of cash payments

Monitoring and Tracking Financial Aid Packages

The Director of Financial Aid reviews and tracks the financial aid process at the campus level. To accomplish this, the Director of Financial Aid must:

• Review monthly start date reports
• Review monthly account balance reports
  • Investigate account balance issues
  • Monitor for potential defaults
  • Follow-up on potential and actual defaults
• Track Sally Mae, government/private scholarship, grant, and private loan postings
• Track drops and academic dismissals
• Re-package continuing students

Preparing Graduating and Exiting Students (graduating, dropped, and dismissed students)

A critical element to student success is an understanding of their financial obligations once they exit Southeast College.

• Ensure exit interviews are conducted
• Ensure any outstanding balances with Southeast College are cleared

Managing Team Performance

The Director of Financial Aid is responsible for managing the performance of the Financial Aid Administrators and staff. To accomplish this, the Director of Financial Aid must:

• Motivate staff and reinforce positive accomplishments
• Schedule hours for staff
• Monitor staff activities (phone calls, appointments, student interviews...)
• Monitor student overview discussions/interviews and provide constructive feedback
• Monitor effective use of C2K Campus View system
• Ensure Financial Aid Administrators know/are up-to-date on financial offerings
• Informally touch base with each Financial Aid Administrator on a daily basis
• Provide coaching and training programs for staff development
• Conduct weekly staff meetings

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands are those required in a professional office setting: sitting, working on a computer, using a telephone, communicating with coworkers and getting to and from appropriate campuses.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Professional office setting: moderate noise levels and controlled indoor climate.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

LOCATION

This position is an onsite position located at your campus unless otherwise determined by the Chancellor and/or designee. Any changes must be reviewed by the Campus President/Vice President and all final approvals must come from the Chancellor and/or designee.

BENEFITS

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental Insurance
• Health Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Paid time off