OFFICIAL JOB TITLE: Associate Director of Financial Aid- Policy and Compliance     

DIVISION: Enrollment Management

DEPARTMENT: Financial Aid

BARGAINING UNIT STATUS: ESU, Cat. 15

FLSA STATUS: EXEMPT  

Salary for ESU: Salary ESU

EEO STATUS: 31  

JOB CODE: 0230

REPORTS TO: Works under the supervision of the Director of Financial Aid

SUPERVISES: Direct supervision of Financial Aid Scholarship Counselor and Administrative Assistant II. Functional supervision of other financial aid staff and student employees in performance of assigned duties.

SUMMARY PURPOSE OF POSITION: The Associate Director of Financial Aid is responsible for advising and assisting the Director with policy and procedure development, strategic fund management, regulatory compliance, enrollment management planning and interdepartmental relations. They will monitor and communicate changes in financial aid programs and work closely with the Director to address compliance issues. They are responsible for the fiscal management and reconciliation of all state programs and will assist the Director in preparing and reviewing statistical and financial data for A-133 audits and data reporting for FISAP, IPEDS, OSFA, Year End and UMass President’s reports.

Follow the University’s best practices to build and/or support student academic success and retention, and assist in meeting strategic objectives for persistence and timely graduation of all the student population.

EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Prepare and review statistical and financial data provided to State agencies, auditing agencies and UMass President’s Office.  Collaborate with systems staff to review statistics for logic, trends and consistency of Financial Aid data prior to publication. Maintain compliance with federal and state regulatory mandates. Convey changes in federal and state program requirements to the Director for implementation and inclusion in updating university policies and procedures
• Initiate, develop, evaluate, and maintain office policies, procedures, and forms in accordance with federal, state and institutional financial aid regulations and guidelines
• Create professional development plans for staff with ongoing training and conferences to improve awareness of the ever-changing higher education landscape
• Create strategies for scholarship management to properly award and manage endowment funds. Develop innovative ideas to leverage these funds to assist students and achieve enrollment and retention goals
• Administer, manage, and reconcile the MASSGrant program and all various state grant/scholarship programs. Responsible for state grant program reconciliation and year-end closeout in accordance with state regulations and resolving variances
• Administer, manage, and reconcile the Federal TEACH Grant Programs. Responsible for year-end closeout in accordance with federal regulations and resolving all variances
• Anticipate, evaluate, and address changes in student financial needs and enrollment management goals and objectives in order to assist in the design and implementation of appropriate programs and services
• Develop and maintain a daily, weekly, and monthly production schedule to ensure optimum processing of all aid programs
• Work closely with the University of Massachusetts' Information Technology Systems (UITS), to establish, monitor and synchronize financial aid batch processing
• Identify, define, test, and schedule system reports and queries to monitor student eligibility and ensure program compliance
• Serve on institutional committees and task forces including financial aid core team meetings as subject matter expert with the Boston- Dartmouth-Lowell (BDL) collaboration and UITS
• Provide regulatory research for Financial Aid Services by utilizing federal and state websites, webinars, technical guides, training, etc
• Participate in meetings, workshop, and conferences to keep current of federal, state and institutional financial aid policies
• Conduct financial aid informational activities, such as Orientation, Open Houses and other public speaking activities on and off campus
• May assume administrative responsibility of the Financial Aid Office in the absence of the Director
• Perform other job-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned and/or the job description changed periodically to reflect changing organization needs

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s Degree

EXPERIENCE: Significant (5 or more years) experience in financial aid at a college, university, or educational institution working with federal and state financial aid programs and regulations, 3-5 years of which shall have included the direct involvement in a system operations project management capacity. Direct technical and functional work experience with administrative software systems (e.g. PeopleSoft, Banner, etc.) in planning, maintaining and assessing financial aid operations.

OTHER: Ability to work evenings/weekends occasionally.  Local and regional travel required occasionally.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Demonstrated proficiency in federal, state and institutional aid regulations and policies, including Federal Methodology and Need Analysis
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency with applications software, Microsoft Excel, spreadsheets, report/query writing and statistical analysis
• Demonstrated experience and proficiency with computerized electronic financial aid systems and processes
• Demonstrated ability to maintain proper contacts with financial aid sources (organizations and individuals)
• Ability to meet and deal effectively with others and provide superior customer service
• Demonstrated ability to communicate well in writing and orally, including public speaking engagements

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's Degree
• Functional and technical expertise with PeopleSoft Student Administration. Experience with the use of technology (e.g., document imaging and workflow systems) to enhance office processing
• Previous, relevant experience in gathering data and acting as a liaison for audits including A-133 and Massachusetts Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA)
• Previous or relevant experience reconciling, preparing and collecting data to manage the completion of year-end reporting such as FISAP, IPEDS and OSFA Year End
• Previous experience training and supervising staff to ensure program integrity and compliance including internal controls development and maintenance

UMass Dartmouth offers exciting benefits such as:

75% Employer-Paid Health Insurance
Flexible Spending Accounts
Life Insurance
Long Term Disability
State Pension Retirement Plan
Optional Retirement Savings Plans
Tuition Credit (Employee, Spouse, & Dependents)
Twelve (12) paid holidays
Paid personal, vacation, and sick time
And More!

Benefits for ESU Union: ESU

Applicants must be authorized for employment in the U.S. on a full time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship not available.

Important Notice!

UMass Dartmouth requires COVID-19 vaccinations for all faculty, staff, and students who wish to work, live, learn or physically come to campus.  Read More.

To apply please submit a letter of interest, current resume and the contact information for three professional references.

The deadline for internal applicants is March 28, 2023.

The review of applications will begin March 29, 2023 and will be ongoing.