Associate Director of Financial Aid

Under the direction of the Director of Financial Aid, the Associate Director of Financial Aid is responsible for assisting in the administration and compliance of all federal, state, and institutional student financial aid programs. Provides leadership in financial aid operations, managing front-end customer service and advising financial aid staff. This role supports the Director with Powerfaids maintenance, system upgrades, testing and efficiencies. Responsible for providing service to all financial aid applicants and recipients.

• Perform Powerfaids system maintenance, enhancements, documentation, reporting, problem solving, testing, and training.
• Assist with the integration of Powerfaids with Colleague and Slate. Assist the Director with data extraction for IPEDS, FISAP, Department of Education, audits, and ad hoc reports.
• Review daily reports, including but not limited to: student gone report, petition report, enrollment change report and make updates as needed to student records.
• Review daily feeds to include the ADM and REG feeds to ensure data flow between external systems into Powerfaids.
• Assist the Director with FTIC awarding. Determine eligibility and construct aid offers for incoming transfer and Graduate populations.
• Provide assistance as needed to the Assistant Directors with constructing returning student financial aid offers.
• Ability to manage all aspects of a student file including file review and application processing, verification, award, appeals, and professional judgment in accordance with Federal, State, and Institutional guidelines.
• Counsel students, parents, and community members on all aspects of financial aid including eligibility, application procedures, charges, loan processing, return of funds and satisfactory academic progress. 
• Facilitate student problem resolution.
• Perform federal return to title four (R2T4) procedures, working closely with student’s accounts and the Registrar Office.
• Return federal and institutional funding as required.
• Assist the AD of Operations with the selection and awarding of named/endowed scholarships, working closely with the Development and the Controller’s offices.
• Serve as back-up for transmission and review of ISIR files between Powerfaids and EdConnect.
• Supervision, training, and evaluation of two staff members.
• Coordinator of the Financial Aid Office customer service.
• Manage office scheduling, phone oversight, customer escalations, AD inquiries and training.
• Represent the financial aid office by serving on campus-wide working groups as required.
• Maintain a thorough working knowledge of federal state and institutional regulations through professional development opportunities.
• Represent the office at on-campus and at selected off-campus events. Serve as a member of the financial aid leadership team.
• Serve as Director in the Director’s absence.

Required Education, Experience, Technology Applications and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree and 3-5 years’ experience in Financial Aid.
• Proficiency with financial aid management systems (for example: Powerfaids, Banner etc.)
• Expert in quantitative analysis with demonstrated use of skill and experience in project management.
• Experience in automated process flow analysis, set up, and issue resolution.
• Thorough knowledge of Federal Title IV student financial aid programs and regulations and federal systems.
• Demonstrates commitment to working in a diverse workplace and to building a pluralistic community by promoting an increased understanding of individual differences and perspectives that will enable workforce cohesiveness.
• High emphasis placed on professionalism, efficiency and a positive attitude.
• Must be detail oriented with excellent problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills.
• As appropriate, collaborate with staff in other units and divisions to achieve the goals of Nazareth.
• Must be able to work independently.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Handle confidential information sensitively and appropriately.