Assistant Director of Financial Aid - Internal Posting

Reporting to the Director of Financial Aid, the Assistant Director of Financial Aid is responsible for the administration and reconciliation of multiple financial aid programs and must adhere to the applicable federal, state, and college regulations and practices to perform essential processing. These responsibilities will necessitate the use of various software and web-based applications specific to financial aid operations.

The Assistant Director is responsible for managing part-time aid staff and providing additional mentorship and guidance to full-time financial aid staff. The Assistant Director serves as the primary back up to the Director of Financial Aid.

The Assistant Director will have responsibility to review student financial aid applications/records, including verification. Additionally, they will be responsible for oversight of Veteran’s education benefits. The Assistant Director will be held accountable for compliance with all federal and state regulations related to financial aid, veteran’s educational benefits, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This role is responsible for maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress records and performing audits of student enrolled hours for applicability towards approved programs of study. The Assistant Director is accountable for exchanging data between the U.S Department of Education and PowerFAIDS on a continuous basis via EDConnect, the federal interface system. This position requires an exceptional degree of regulatory and statutory knowledge in the areas of needs analysis, verification, and financial aid packaging as well as the ability to exercise critical thinking and decision making within the framework of Professional Judgment Standards.

Due to the need for interaction with students, employees, and college community, this position requires in-person presence but is eligible for telework: positions with back-up duties require consistent on-site presence; telework may be available to certain roles on a limited basis to best meet the needs of the department.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Provide leadership and management for the part-time financial aid staff to include hiring, supervision, and oversight of the front desk coverage.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to full-time financial aid staff.
• Manage and maintain record of all WFP approved programs with bi-annual review of all programs to ensure hour and length requirements continue to be met.
• In collaboration with the Director, establish, lead and coordinate, WFP program approval submission process and CEWD procedural requirements, to include attendance and disbursement rules.
• Counsel parents and students regarding availability of financial aid funding, eligibility requirements and the application process, to include escalated concerns.
• Conduct workshops on completing the financial aid application for prospective, new, and enrolled students on a regularly scheduled rotation.
• Review student financial aid applications and perform federal verification on selected records, resolve conflicting information and C coded records.
• Evaluate special circumstance requests and make a relatively assured determination that changing and reprocessing financial (FAFSA) data to the federal processor is within program statute.
• Download student financial aid applications imported from the DOE into the financial aid administrative software.
• Create electronic origination and payment documents for all eligible Pell Grant and Direct Loan recipients and transmit them to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) via Common Origination and Disbursement (COD), the Department’s payment interface used to project and monitor federal cash flow to the institution.
• Communicate with COD and the Central Processing System (CPS) regarding problems with processing, FAFSA downloads or federal program transmissions.
• Perform and manage an in-depth review of all new Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) files to identify necessary documentation and sources of conflicting information.
• Manage end-of-term Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) calculations to update student records; perform edit checks on all blank fields and/or unusual status changes.
• Coordinate with Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) area to submit for approval to the DOE any programs approved by the Maryland Governor’s board for Workforce Pell (WFP).
• Assist director in maintaining audit-ready files for all audit/program reviews.
• Collaborate with external constituents such as area libraries and high schools to conduct financial aid information sessions and FAFSA workshops annually; maintain schedule of events and act as lead for all workshops.
• Collaborate with College departments such as Registration and Accounts Receivable to discuss relevant data for processing financial aid applications and reconciling financial aid awards.

VETERAN’S BENEFITS:

• Counsel VA students/VA dependents about the availability of education benefits under the various Chapters of the GI Bill and advise throughout all aspects of the application process.
• Evaluate VA Certification Request Forms submitted by students; perform certifications for veteran’s benefits and submit to VA to initiate payments to student and to the College.
• Monitor VA students’ enrollment via the add/drop report and withdrawal forms; immediately report changes to VA so payments can be adjusted when appropriate.
• Review academic progress at the end of each semester. Notify VA of any changes including changes to program of study.
• Maintain graduation checks for each VA student to ensure that only required courses are included in enrollment certifications to VA.
• Ensure audit-ready files for MHEC and VA program reviews.
• Manage and perform annual reconciliation of the VA educational benefits program using VA Payment reports and enrollment/certification records.
• Collaborate with College departments such as Registration and Accounts Receivable to research or obtain relevant data with regard to processing VA education benefits.
• Act as the Veteran’s program primary administrator as the main point of contact for all VA communications.
• Perform annual review of programs of study for approval/update/removal on the VA’s Web Enabled Approval Management System (WEAMS) and the VA’s certification payment system (VAONCE).

OTHER RELATED DUTIES:

• Increase and maintain in-depth knowledge of Title IV, VA, and MHEC regulations by attending relevant workshops, conferences and meetings.
• Participate in community outreach activities, campus events, and committees as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably with coursework in business or accounting; master’s degree preferred.
• Substantive financial aid experience (5-7 years), customer service, and familiarity with accounts receivable

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Professional experience should reflect a strong working knowledge and understanding of Title IV programs and regulations, state programs and regulations, and VA education benefits programs and regulations. Requires an exceptional degree of detail and accuracy and possession of analytic skills.
• Must demonstrate ability to interpret complex regulations and to apply them to daily decisions in the processing of federal and state funds and VA education benefits. Evidence of strong verbal and written communication skills.

SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS:

• Work schedule may vary during critical periods requiring evening, Saturday, or Sunday work hours depending on the need.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

This position classifies the physical exertion requirements as sedentary work involving lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying articles like docket files, ledgers, and small tools. Although a sedentary job is defined as one which involves sitting, a certain amount of walking and standing is often necessary in carrying out job duties. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required occasionally, and other sedentary criteria are met.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as office or meeting and training rooms, e.g., use of safe work place practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, and observance of fire and building safety regulations, and traffic signals when driving. Periodic travel between college locations and State meetings.

General Benefits:

Cecil College offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefit package offering medical, dental and vision coverage for employee and eligible dependents; generous annual, sick and personal leave; 19 paid holidays; tuition assistance and tuition waiver based on eligibility guidelines; opportunity to enroll in retirement accounts (403B or Maryland State Retirement System based on eligibility guidelines); voluntary retirement account with TIAA or Fidelity, employee paid short term disability, employer provided basic life insurance and accidental death insurance, and employee paid voluntary life insurance, access to Fitness Center, and library. For more information Employee Benefits | Cecil College

This is an exempt position (not overtime eligible); Grade 117 (pay scale:$64,393-103,029). Based on the budget, the salary for the position will be $75,000

Posted on 6/22/26. Deadline for position is 6/29/26.

Based upon the budgeted hours of a position, contribution to the Maryland State Retirement Pension System may be required.

*We are committed to ensuring equal opportunity and non-discrimination in all hiring and employment practices. Cecil College will not discriminate against any individual by reason of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic status, genetic information, veteran status or any other status protected by federal, state or local laws.