Director of Financial Aid
: Job Details :

The Director of Financial Aid at Eastern Oregon University (EOU) is responsible for the overall management and administration of all student financial aid, as well as the operation of the Financial Aid Office. The director of financial aid is a strategic partner in meeting the University's admission and retention goals, leading staff, and partnering with colleagues across the University. The director is responsible for the awarding and disbursement of the annual financial aid expenditures, a comprehensive aid budget of approximately $23 million. The director is responsible for hiring, training, and providing professional development opportunities and mentoring to all financial aid staff members.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced problem solver as the Director of Financial Aid holds a central strategic role in the successful education of students from all walks of life at EOU, with particular attention to international, underserved and nontraditional students. The Director must be a naturally strong advocate for students, a strategic enrollment management thinker and contributor, an expert in administering federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs, and an innovator who is motivated to bring new approaches, technologies, and communications tactics to the financial aid realm.

The Director is responsible for ensuring that the University maintains compliance with all applicable federal law, state law, and any other applicable rules and regulations related to the administration of Financial Aid funds. This position is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring all operational functions within financial aid and for the strategic use of institutional aid in achieving enrollment objectives in accordance with the University strategic plan and overall mission.

The Director manages departmental budgets for the Financial Aid office; manages and oversees all financial aid programs, operational changes, and management of federal and state financial aid programs, in compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, for over $20 million in financial aid funding disbursed annually at EOU; manages, maintains, and makes recommendations to the Vice President for Finance & Administration regarding changes to current fee remission programs of over $2.8 million dollars annually; implements new fee remission programs as directed to support enrollment and retention goals; authority of awarding federal campus-based funds (FSEOG, Perkins, Federal Work-Study) with a budget of over $500 thousand dollars; manages the development and awarding criteria for federal, state, and institutional aid.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and interpret federal and state legislation relative to financial aid functions and oversee the implementation of new regulatory requirements;
• Ensure that all federally mandated requirements are performed as stipulated;
• Provide individual, student-centered counseling services to students and families;
• Monitor processing activities and implement corrective action when needed;
• Lead and collaborate with campus partners in the university's diversity, equity and inclusion work, with a focus on DEI-related financial aid initiatives;
• Contribute to the development of both need and merit-based financial aid awarding and packaging policies alongside the admissions, marketing, advising, the university's online services partner, and the university's enrollment analytics partners with an eye toward using advanced predictive analytics to leverage financial aid for the university's enrollment management and access goals;
• Adjudicate on professional judgment and additional aid appeal requests;
• Collaborate with colleagues across campus to ensure student retention in cases where financial needs may be a barrier;
• Collaborate with colleagues across the university to encourage fair and equitable administration of and access to work-study job opportunities for students;
• Contribute to the development of financial aid consumer publications and web material;
• Create an office culture that values innovation, collaboration, accountability, as well as data informed decision making.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration or a related field.
• Five (5) years of experience working in Higher Education Financial Aid, and familiarity with federal and state regulations.
• Three (3) years of experience supervising employees in both union and non-union status.
• Must satisfactorily complete EOU criminal and credential background check. Having a criminal history is not an automatic bar to employment.
• In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. Eastern Oregon University will not sponsor applicants for employment visas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Business Administration or a related field.

Special Instructions to Applicants

Eastern Oregon University – Oregon's Rural University! – is a respected public, higher education institution of academic excellence. Outstanding faculty and staff thrive and together fulfill their career ambitions to serve students from all walks of life.

Applicant must provide:1) Letter of application (which should include why this position is attractive to the applicant, how it meets the applicant's professional goals, and what attracts the applicant to EOU);2) Resume/Curriculum vitae;3) Submit names, emails, and phone numbers for at least three references in the reference section of the application.

Candidates are encouraged to review the values and principles of Eastern Oregon University.

Only complete files of qualified applicants will be reviewed.

Salary: $59,177 to $78,112 Annually DOQ

EOU is a beautiful, quaint campus nestled in the remarkably scenic, high elevation Grande Ronde Valley populated by wonderful, community-minded citizens that have balanced work-life flexibility. Take a virtual tour of Eastern Oregon University.

EOU offers a very attractive package of State of Oregon public employee benefits including:

• Paid holidays (10 days/year), and paid sick time-off (12 days/year), paid vacation (22 days/year)
• Full Individual and Family Healthcare Insurance (95%+ employer-paid medical, dental, vision)
• Generous Oregon Public Employee Retirement System benefits
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Discounted tuition benefits for employees and eligible dependents
• Relocation assistance
• For more details, see Prospective Employees here.

Eastern Oregon University is an EEO Employer and welcomes applications from women, members of historically underrepresented minority groups, US Veterans, and persons with disabilities. EOU is committed to providing equal opportunity in its recruitment, admissions, educational programs, activities and employment without illegal discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, race, marital status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or any status as protected by state or federal law.

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