Director - Financial Aid

Columbus State Community College•Columbus, OH

45d

About The Position

Serving as the college's chief financial aid and scholarships administrator, the Director of Financial Aid is responsible for ensuring compliance with Federal Title IV regulations and for leading the strategic direction of financial aid and scholarships in order to advance College-wide student success. The director oversees a team that currently includes two assistant directors and a number of administrators tasked with administering and disbursing aid, developing support systems, and coordinating scholarship programs. Collaborates closely with the financial aid advising team in Student Central to ensure that student-facing staff clearly understand financial aid regulations, processes, timelines, and decision-making criteria.

Requirements

A Master's Degree in Education, Administration, Student Personnel, or a closely related field
Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in financial aid administration
State Motor Vehicle Operator's License or demonstrable ability to gain access to work site(s)
An appropriate combination of education, training, coursework, and experience may qualify a candidate.

Responsibilities

Serves as the aid administrator of record with all federal, state, and accrediting entities, with responsibilities including: Annual reporting, including FISAP completion and submission, federal A-133 audit, federal Program Participation Agreement updates, Ohio Department of Higher Education audits, and IPEDS.
Ensures adherence to audit requirements and complies with audit requests. Ensures compliance with record retention regulations and policies, and other related institutional, state, federal, or accrediting requirements.
Leads efforts to raise financial awareness, including the impact of borrowing. Monitors and manages loan repayment and default rates
Is responsible for all aspects of aid compliance and awarding policies, including: 1) determining student cost of education, determining awarding policies for federal awards, ensuring that awarding meets federal regulations, and monitoring annual awarding budgets; 2) coordination of institutional and Foundation scholarships, administration of the College's scholarship application system and processes, determination of criteria for scholarship awarding and disbursement, and the development of appropriate student communications; 3) maintenance of scholarship information on the College website; 4) coordination of external aid; 5) management of review processes of over-awards resulting from scholarships/external aid; and 6) recommends policy and business practices to support the effectiveness of the awarding of aid. Ensures the publication of required aid, policy, and concern reporting, and other disclosures required to maintain Title IV funding eligibility.
Monitors federal and state legislative mandates and determines potential changes to the student aid environment; informs College leadership as appropriate. Serves as the knowledge resource for all federal and state financial aid regulations and College policies and practices, and ensures compliance.
Coordinates College-wide and student-level communications regarding financial aid. Serves as an integral member of the Enrollment Services leadership team.
Collaborates with College leadership to develop scholarship awarding criteria, develops and implements a set of robust financial aid and scholarship award strategies to leverage funds and maximize outcomes based on College recruitment, access, persistence, and completion goals.
Implements analysis tools to measure outcomes of strategic initiatives and develops trend analyses to inform decisions. Develops scholarship modeling for College and Foundation funds.
Collaborates with other leadership in Marketing Communications and Enrollment Services to ensure a broad understanding of financial aid rules, requirements, and procedures.
The director works particularly closely with leadership in Student Central and the Telephone Information Center, whose associates work directly with students on financial aid issues. Works closely with offices in other divisions, particularly in Cashiers& Accounting, and Institutional Effectiveness.
Fosters and maintains a safe environment of respect and inclusion for faculty, staff, students, and members of the community.