Careers Job Description
General Description
Accelerate, Complete, and Engage (ACE) at Lehman College is a comprehensive program designed to help students complete their academic journey to the bachelor’s degree within two years (transfer) or four years (freshmen). ACE provides a range of financial, academic, and personal support, including intensive academic advisement and career counseling, as well as tuition, textbook, and transportation assistance.
To provide comprehensive support to ACE staff, Lehman College seeks a Financial Aid Specialist to administer the financial aid process from beginning to end for all ACE students. Reporting to the Financial Aid Director, the Financial Aid Specialist supports the financial aid process for all ACE students.
Responsibilities:
- Act as primary contact for ACE on financial aid processing.
- Review and assess financial aid documents to administer, coordinate, and reconcile financial aid for ACE students in accordance with Federal, State, University, and institutional regulations that govern student financial aid.
- Verify federal financial aid files for ACE students selected for verification by the US Department of Education and make corrections as needed, in accordance with federal student aid regulations, in order to finalize financial aid awards.
- Provide counseling to ACE students and parents regarding the financial aid process, Return of Title IV (R2T4), the family’s specific situation, and various financial aid and financing options available.
- Serve as the direct resource for ACE staff on all financial aid related issues which includes escalated matters of priority, along with providing timely responses, updates, and analyses/reports, where applicable, on financial aid for ACE students.
- Assist ACE on new initiatives while providing financial literacy & financial aid workshops for ACE staff/students.
- Conduct campus-based ACE student financial aid orientations and attend and participate in workshops, ACE staff meetings, information sessions and trainings.
- Represent Lehman College at CUNY ASAP/ACE Financial Aid meetings, councils, and conferences.
- Assist with special projects and related duties as assigned.
Other Duties
- Review disbursements, tuition and fees; validate student eligibility for various programs.
- Administer, monitor and troubleshoot CUNY financial aid systems as well as Federal and NY State systems in order to ensure integrity of student databases and timely and accurate delivery of funds.
- Validate Title IV aid eligibility (Pell Grant, Direct Loan etc.).
- In consultation with Bursar’s office, determine TAP eligibility status, and review Title IV aid disbursements to ensure awards are fully disbursed.
- Review and reconcile student eligibility with student payroll data.
- Coordinate, verify, and resolve problems regarding the disbursement of scholarships and grants by verifying student eligibility, establishing pay cycles and reviewing payouts.
- Analyze and report on financial aid activities.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree and four years of related experience required.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Student financial aid counseling experience.
- Good understanding of the needs and challenges facing students from diverse urban backgrounds.
- Strong customer service, interpersonal communication skills, and ability to work effectively with a diverse community of students and staff in a large centralized public education system.
- Ability to foster collaborations between academic departments and student services.
- Demonstrated ability to use student and institutional data meaningfully to guide processes.
- Experience with CUNYFirst system or PeopleSoft, including running queries.
- Knowledge of federal and state financial aid regulations, policies and procedures.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Strong technical skills, including Word, Access and Excel - with advanced Excel technical skills and the ability to learn new systems as needed preferred.
- Experience working in special programs and/or with a cohort model preferred.
- Bilingual in Spanish/English preferred.
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).
RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
Enrollment Management
Full Time
$46,000.00 - $55,000.00
Nov 02, 2020 (Or Until Filled)