Director, Enrollment Services - Financial Aid

Director Of Financial Aid

Sierra College is committed to Guided Pathways to increase student achievement and timely goal completion and to close equity gaps. In that spirit, the Director is responsible to ensure areas of oversight afford an inclusive educational and employment environment and are focused on equitable outcomes for all. Under administrative direction of assigned Dean, this position provides leadership for providing financial aid services that increase student enrollment, retention, persistence and completion.

The Director of Financial Aid oversees financial aid staff who work to ensure students are properly funded, packaged, and prepared to start each semester. The Director of Financial Aid accomplishes this through: overseeing student funding, reviewing and following-up on student packaging, monitoring and tracking student financial aid packages, preparing graduating and exiting students, managing team performance. This position establishes and reviews internal policies and procedures as it relates to financial aid and student success, ensures compliance with Title 5, District policies as well as other applicable State, Federal laws and regulations, performs the more technical and complex tasks relative to assigned areas of responsibility.

The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.

• Assists in the development, implementation, evaluation and improvement of student financial aid services that contribute to increased student enrollment, success, goal attainment, and successful transition into the workforce or on to a 4-year college or university.
• Plans, implements, prioritizes, assigns, supervises, participates and collaborates in the work of staff responsible for the administration of federal, state and local student financial aid programs; identifies resource needs and makes recommendations to allocate resources accordingly.
• Assist with the development of strategic direction and sets priorities for financial aid efforts in accordance with the District's goals and changing student needs.
• Coordinates with the Centers and other departments providing enrollment, retention and completion services to ensure the implementation and intentional delivery of services District wide and serve as primary contact for financial aid in the District.
• Authorizes prepared award packages in conformity with applicable federal, state, and local regulations; establishes and monitors for satisfactory academic progress of student financial aid recipients to ensure compliance with applicable requirements; oversees application of student financial aid probation and termination policies and procedures.
• Assists in the development of short and long-range plans and goals to effectively and intentionally deliver student financial aid; develops and implements strategies to effectively integrate financial aid services with other District organizational units; modifies and/or revises policies and procedures as needed to ensure equity-mindedness, on-going compliance with Title 4 and 5, and other applicable regulations.
• Develops and implements financial aid programming, services, and staff training that is culturally-responsive to the populations being reached and utilizing the principles of universal design to meet diverse student needs.
• Coordinates with IIT and others as appropriate to help implement and maintain effective district technology solutions for the delivery of financial aid services.
• Prepares and maintains records, files and reports regarding departmental operations; maintains audit trail of financial transactions; compiles and maintains program statistics; coordinates preparation of District requests for federal student financial aid funding.
• Coordinates the development of internal documents and publications used in the administration of student financial aid programs and ensures that the documents/publications are culturally responsive to the populations being reached.
• In collaboration with other stakeholders, provides leadership to deliver effective and innovative financial aid services and activities to improve student enrollment, success, goal attainment, and/or degree completion.
• Attends and participates in professional group meetings; maintains awareness of new trends and developments regarding guided pathways and other community college initiatives.
• Performs related duties as assigned

The following describes the education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required to enter the job and successfully perform the assigned duties. A bachelor's degree in any subject matter field, Master's degree or the equivalent preferred, and four years of progressively responsible management experience related to the duties of the positions is preferred. One year of progressively responsible management experience…