Scholarship Coordinator and Development Associate

Colorado Mesa; Grand Junction (CO); On-site; USD 48,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Job summary

Colorado Mesa University is seeking a scholarship management professional to assist with the development of written materials, administer scholarships, and coordinate with the Office of Financial Aid, Admissions, and Student Success to ensure the timely distribution of funds.

The role also supports donor cultivation, stewardship events, and fundraising activities, supervising staff and managing the foundation’s daily operations to advance the university’s mission and community partnerships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university and a minimum of two years’ experience in a field related to scholarship and grant management, donor relations, or fundraising.
• Demonstrated experience that requires meticulous attention to detail for multiple projects.
• Demonstrated experience in long-term relationship building and stewardship with donors and potential donors.

Responsibilities

• Assists with the development of written materials including letters of inquiry, grant applications, memorandums of understanding, proposals, and solicitation letters.
• Administers scholarships and ensures proper development and documentation of scholarship processes.
• Works in coordination with the Office of Financial Aid, Admissions Department and Student Success and Engagement Department on scholarship processing by communicating the availability of new scholarships and criteria; ensuring the guidelines provided in the memorandum of understanding are being met; providing information concerning the availability of funds; providing timely distribution of scholarship funds; and, serves as liaison between the student and the donor.
• Serves as an administrator for Award Management and manages and maintains scholarship opportunities and donor profiles.
• Assists with donor stewardship including annual endowment reports, student thank you letters and donor events including, but not limited to, annual donor recognition events, building groundbreakings and openings, fundraising luncheons, receptions, donor stewardship events, and others as assigned.
• Assists COO with the development of event and donation pages including Day of Giving campaigns, memorial pages, donations forms and event registration pages.
• Uses independent discretion and judgment to review and analyze data and prepare reports on donor giving, prospective donors and other information as needed to the development staff.
• Assists with planning and execution of stewardship‑related special events such as Donors & Scholars and Entrepreneurship Day. Assist COO with campus engagement efforts and support fundraising activities across the institution.
• Oversee and manages daily administrative and operational functions of the Foundation office.
• Serves as a professional resource for faculty, staff, students, administration and external partners.
• Assists with managing the Foundation Fellows program.
• Supervises student employees; delegates tasks with clear scope, provides feedback and direction.

Skills

Donor relations

Fundraising

Event planning

Communication

MS Office

Excel

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Job description

Announcement of Position Vacancy

FLSA Status: United States of America (Exempt)

Compensation: $48,000-$58,000 Commensurate with education and experience.

Excellent health and retirement benefits package.

Section I – Our Values

At CMU, we believe in acting from a foundation of goodwill. This belief gives us the courage to form meaningful relationships, embark on joint endeavors and take risks in the pursuit of new possibilities. It’s this courage that enables the Mavily to explore new ways of thinking and doing, knowing that there is no perfect solution, no perfect idea.

From this place of humility and courage, we’ve built a culture of resilience. We invest in the future by continuously adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and seizing new opportunities. We recognize that change is constant, and our resilience allows us to embrace it with confidence.

Endless curiosity drives us to approach the unexpected as if it were expected, seeing opportunities for discovery and renewal in every challenge. In this community rooted in love and dignity, curiosity thrives, leading to endless opportunities for growth and advancement.

Inspired by the soul of the West—the spirit that our region embodies—we emerge as a force for positive change, harnessing our collective power to build a Human Scale University that reflects our values and brings to life our shared vision of the world we aspire to create.

Colorado Mesa University Core Values

• Love - Extending oneself for nurturing the growth of self and others
• Dignity - Respecting the intrinsic value of each person and believing that others act from a foundation of goodwill
• Courage - Taking risks in the pursuit of new possibilities
• Humility - Suspending one’s ego and pride to recognize that no idea is perfect and being open to the input of others
• Resiliency - Investing in the future by adapting to changes, overcoming challenges and pursuing Opportunity
• Curiosity - Cultivating awe and exploring the unknown
• Power - The strength to act collaboratively with individual agency to achieve our goals

Section II – The Seat

At CMU, we look at every position as a seat. Every seat is vital and the individual in the seat contributes significantly to our mission of providing an affordable and accessible education and forming meaningful and mutually enriching partnerships that support the well‑being and vibrancy of our community. As a human centric organization, a priority is to ensure we have the “right seats” in our organization, and that the expectations, ownership and accountabilities are defined and communicated clearly for the success of the individuals holding the seats.

Scholarship Management

Assists with the development of written materials including letters of inquiry, grant applications, memorandums of understanding, proposals, and solicitation letters.

Administers scholarships and ensures proper development and documentation of scholarship processes.

Works in coordination with the Office of Financial Aid, Admissions Department and Student Success and Engagement Department on scholarship processing by communicating the availability of new scholarships and criteria; ensuring the guidelines provided in the memorandum of understanding are being met; providing information concerning the availability of funds; providing timely distribution of scholarship funds; and, serves as liaison between the student and the donor.

Serves as an administrator for Award Management and manages and maintains scholarship opportunities and donor profiles.

Donor Cultivation and Stewardship

Assists with donor stewardship including annual endowment reports, student thank you letters and donor events including, but not limited to, annual donor recognition events, building groundbreakings and openings, fundraising luncheons, receptions, donor stewardship events, and others as assigned.

Assists COO with the development of event and donation pages including Day of Giving campaigns, memorial pages, donations forms and event registration pages.

Uses independent discretion and judgment to review and analyze data and prepare reports on donor giving, prospective donors and other information as needed to the development staff.

Assists with planning and execution of stewardship‑related special events such as Donors & Scholars and Entrepreneurship Day. Assist COO with campus engagement efforts and support fundraising activities across the institution.

Operational Support & Administrative Oversight

Oversee and manages daily administrative and operational functions of the Foundation office.

Serves as a professional resource for faculty, staff, students, administration and external partners.

Assists with managing the Foundation Fellows program.

Supervises student employees; delegates tasks with clear scope, provides feedback and direction.

Roles Lead, Manage and Accountability (LMA) Foundation Administration Donor Cultivation and Stewardship Scholarship Program Oversight

(This paragraph is unclear; included as part of role responsibilities.)

Accountability to Results

• 80% completion rate on quarterly Rocks (goals)
• Increase number of scholarship awards and amount awarded year over year
• Provide exceptional donor stewardship experiences that increase annual giving

Core Processes

• Owned: Administrative Oversight
• Award Management Administration
• Contributor: Scholarship Management
• Fundraising Goals and Performance
• Stewardship Events Management
• Foundation Annual Giving Program

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

Section III – Our Desires for Right Fit

For the success of our mission and our teams, we desire to have individuals who are a “Right Fit” in our seats. We define “Right Fit” as those who embrace our culture, demonstrate our values, understand the seat and what is required. We seek individuals who want this seat, desire to be a part of a bigger vision and have the capacity to be a successful member of our CMU team.

Capacity Requirements

• Flexibility in hours is required to accommodate outreach to donors and other stakeholders.
• Ability to advocate for public higher education and Colorado Mesa University in particular.
• A high standard of professional integrity
• Desire to apply fundraising techniques with imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Sensitivity to long‑term relationship building and stewardship with donors and potential donors.

Essential Experience for Right Fit

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four‑year college or university and a minimum of two years’ experience in a field related to scholarship and grant management, donor relations, or fundraising.
• Demonstrated experience that requires meticulous attention to detail for multiple projects.
• Demonstrated experience in long‑term relationship building and stewardship with donors and potential donors.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft office suite with above proficiency in Excel.
• Demonstrated excellent oral and interpersonal skills.

Language Skills

The language skills include: Ability to read, analyze and interpret general written materials, professional journals, technical procedures, or government regulations. Ability to write reports and prepare and conduct verbal and visual presentation of materials. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from top management, public groups, and board of directors.

Reasoning Ability

Strategic and analytical reasoning skills are necessary. Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the individual is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, and talk or hear. The individual must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that the individual in this position will encounter while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The individual typically performs the duties of the job in an open office setting. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to loud at times, with several disruptions throughout the day.

Direct Inquiries Contact

Carley Maher, [e-mail]

About Colorado Mesa University

Colorado Mesa University is a comprehensive university located in Grand Junction, Colorado. As a western Colorado’s largest university, CMU serves students on its main campus in Grand Junction, its satellite campus in Montrose, its technical college, CMU Tech, and via online offerings. CMU serves as the primary intellectual and cultural center of western Colorado and promotes the exchange of ideas that are of regional, national, and international importance. Founded in 1925, it is a dynamic university enrolling 10,000 students at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels. At the heart of the CMU experience is an integrative and experiential approach to higher education that encourages students to think differently and empowers them to challenge assumptions. CMU brings students together with expert scholars and thinkers from different disciplines to make connections between ideas and gain the skills to solve the unstructured, complex problems they will encounter in life. Our focus is on providing quality academic programs, built on a strong liberal arts core that supports students’ interests and regional employment needs, as well as technical programs that respond to vocational workforce demands. The Grand Valley is home to some of the best outdoor recreation in the state of Colorado and you will not have to fight traffic and crowds to enjoy it. CMU is surrounded by the Grand Mesa, Book Cliffs, and the Colorado National Monument. We have world‑class mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, rafting, and a mountain resort that’s less than 45 minutes from campus for skiing, snowboarding, and cross‑country skiing. Living and working in Grand Junction, you will be able to explore one of Colorado’s best kept secrets.

Colorado Mesa University is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a culturally diverse faculty, staff and student body. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Any person with a disability as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) may be provided reasonable accommodation upon request to enable the person to complete an employment assessment. To request an accommodation, please contact the CMU Human Resources Office by phone or email. You may be asked to provide additional information, including medical documentation, regarding functional limitations and the type of accommodation needed.

Background investigations include reference checks, a criminal history record check, and when appropriate, a financial and/or motor vehicle history. Applicant must be able to verify U.S. employment eligibility. Also, Colorado Mesa University conducts background investigations for all final applicants being considered for employment.