Associate Director, Financial Aid

Job Title

Associate Director, Financial Aid

Agency

Texas A&M International University

Department

Financial Aid

Proposed Minimum Salary

$4,875.87 monthly

Job Location

Laredo, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Job Summary

The Associate Director, Financial Aid, under general direction, lends direct support to Director for management and general administration of scholarship and student financial aid programs. Provides leadership and direction to Assistant Director and assigned staff in planning, development, coordination, and delivery of their respective programs to meet needs of students and goals of department.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides leadership, supervision, and direction to staff in the development, maintenance, and management of student employment and work study programs, emergency tuition and short-term loan programs, record-keeping, coordination of outreach efforts, personnel issues, or financial and business-related activities.

• Assesses program effectiveness and makes recommendations for improvements.

• Provides leadership in development of both long- and short-range goals.

• Oversees operation and administration of outreach and early awareness, marketing, counseling, business process management, or budget management.

• Ensures recommendations and instructions from supervisors are carried out

• Makes recommendations concerning program funding levels and may recommend the awarding of student financial aid to needy students.

• Assists Director with formulating department policies and procedures, implementing strategic priorities, and developing programs at affiliated locations.

• Reviews the Quality Assurance Program findings and takes appropriate action.

• Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local program regulations and audits and takes appropriate corrective action.

• Assists with the preparation of federal, state, and operational reports.

This document represents the major duties, responsibilities, and authorities of this job, and is not intended to be a complete list of all tasks and functions. Other duties may be assigned.

Additional Responsibilities

• Manage the technical and functional aspects of the Financial Aid module of the Student Information System, including system setup, implementation, analysis, problem resolution, maintenance, reporting, and regulatory updates.

• Build, monitor, and maintain the Student Financial Aid System rules and processes. Develop, review, and modify procedures and documentation for the financial aid office. Including but not limited to annual calendar and process flow, budgeting, aid adjustments, new aid year start-up, and year-end close-out.

• Collaborate with others in the processing of financial aid applications by coordinating the daily file import and export of electronic files from the Central Processing System (CPS) and Common Origination and Disbursement (COD), facilitating the assignment of students to different packaging groups, and reconciling data that may create inconsistency with the awarding process.

• Work closely with the University’s IT Department to establish, monitor, and synchronize financial aid batch processing.

• Responsible for improving efficiencies within all functional areas of Financial Aid by using technology to provide systematic solutions to problems and enhance existing processes.

• Works with other departments to develop new protocols to replace existing manual processes and identify cross-functional issues. Collaborates with other units to find and develop appropriate solutions.

• Maintain and is responsible for written documentation for system processes and procedures. Provide and present training on new financial aid regulatory updates and initiatives to the Financial Aid staff and other units as needed.

• Develop and maintain all internal and external data interfaces, data reporting, set-up, and maintenance of the Banner financial aid management system.

• Assume primary responsibility relating to financial aid administration, including yearly implementation of the complex financial aid awarding model in Banner.

• Maintain software/databases, including testing new functionality, writing database algorithms for rules-based processing.

• Develop and test rules and validation tables

• Analyze financial aid business needs and develop strategies to resolve issues and develop processes to improve efficiency.

• Develop and maintain quality control reports and internal audit procedures to ensure compliance with federal and university regulations and policies.

Minimum Requirements

• Education – Bachelor's degree.

• Experience – Eight years’ of related experience.

• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Master’s degree.

• Significant technical and functional experience with Student Information Systems, with preferred knowledge of Banner Financial Aid, Web-Focus, CampusLogic, and Laserfiche.

• Ability to utilize Federal and State electronic data interfaces and web-based services: FAFSA Partner Portal, COD, CPS, SAIG, Edconnect, EdExpress, NSLDS, and THECB Portals.

 

Knowledge and Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications.

• Higher education.

• Student financial aid processes and related federal and state regulations.

Ability to:

• Multitask and work cooperatively with others.

• Oral and written communication skills.

• Organizational skills.

• Demonstrated leadership ability.

• Solve complex problems.

License/Professional Certification – None.

Physical Requirements – General Office Environment.

 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

Supervision Received/Given  

 

This position generally supervises employees.

 

Other Requirements

• Position may require evening and/or weekend hours.

• Position requires on campus, face-to-face interactions.

• Position requires maintaining a regular schedule of attendance on campus and in the workplace.

Salary: $58,510.44/annually

INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANT: During the application process you have only one opportunity to enter the requested information, upload documents and Submit the application. You will not be able to make changes or add additional documents once you “Submit” the application materials.  The software does not allow you to “Save” your application and return to complete the process at a later time.  The page "My Experience" has an area provided under Resume/CV to drop or upload files. Be sure to include:

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• 3 -5 professional references and their full contact information

• Unofficial transcripts (if applicable)

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.