Lead Specialist - Financial Aid

Assists the Financial Aid Management team and Director in developing student service initiatives and programs. Provides ongoing support and guidance to Financial Aid Specialists. Represents the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) services and programs to other campus partners and stakeholders.

Assists the Financial Aid Management team and Director in developing student service initiatives and programs. Provides ongoing support and guidance to Financial Aid Specialists. Represents the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) services and programs to other campus partners and stakeholders.

Responsible for advising and counseling students, parents, faculty, and staff in all aspects of financial aid. Expertise is critical in the areas of application and disbursement procedures, exercising professional judgment to analyze and process files, and operating in compliance with the regulatory and institutional requirements for federal, state, college, and external financial aid programs. Serve as a primary source of direct information disseminated to Harper College stakeholders regarding the accuracy of specific aid status’ and deadlines, instruction on the proper completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and other financial aid applications and forms, and complex aid regulations.

Assist with the administration of the federal and state grant programs, as well as federal and private student loan programs (Stafford, PLUS, and Alternative Loans).

Plays an integral role in project management related to creating and implementing procedure into daily operations. Anticipates potential issues and identifies solutions to improve process and service.

Builds collaboration with the One Stop staff for continuous improvement of student service. Monitors and performs quality assurance of salesforce student cases to ensure response time and communication content expectations are met.

Partners with the Advising team and the Business Office team to proactively streamline business processes to ensure excellent student service. Assists with cross-department trainings to holistically serve students and maintain compliance.

Creates and updates the Specialist on Duty schedule to assure appropriate coverage needs for daily and peak times. Manages the distribution of specialist appointments.

Responsible for overseeing OSFA student employees, including day to day operations, training, professional development, and scheduling.

Provides all the general services included in the Financial Aid Specialist role.

Serves as a direct source of information to ensure students and parents understand how to pay for college and educates them on how Harper College, federal, state and third party resources can provide assistance.

Advises students and parents about their financial opportunities to pay for college. Provides timely, accurate and confidential information during in-person meetings, via telephone calls, CHAT and email to answer questions concerning financial aid, scholarships, work study and veteran’s programs including benefits, eligibility criteria, the application process, policies and procedures, appropriate deadlines, specific aid status information, loan information and requirements, and the impact of taking out student loans.

Applies customer service skills, knowledge, advocacy, and professional judgment to address both simple and complex matters to ensure that stakeholder financial aid needs are served in a timely manner and they have a positive experience.

Adheres to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) while managing sensitive confidential information to diagnose and analyze the various facets of each…