Bursar

Bursar

Reporting to the Controller, the Bursar manages operations of the College's Bursar unit and is responsible for accounts receivable, cashier and banking services functions; including student finance accounts, third party billing, collections, and customer service; performs a variety of technical accounting duties and direct supervision of professional accounting and technical staff.

The ideal candidate will be a strategic-minded leader, who possesses outstanding planning and accounting skills and experience in managing student financial operations to support the goals of the College while supporting the College mission, vision and values.

This position offers remote work flexibility but does require a strong on-campus presence and regular travel to all three FRCC campuses.

Please note: You need to be a Colorado resident on your first day of employment. Also, Front Range Community College is an E-Verify employer.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Strategic Management

• Develop, implement and continuously refine a student-centered receivables and payment strategy that supports student success, enrollment retention, and institutional financial health.
• Evaluate the impact of billing, collections, refund, and payment policies on student access, persistence, and completion, and recommend policy enhancements.
• Lead college and systemwide initiatives to streamline and improve billing, payment plan administration, refund processing, and student financial communications,
• Partner with campus stakeholders to align bursar operations with enrollment and student success initiatives.
• Analyze trends related to student account balances, delinquency rates, payment plan participation, registration holds, refunds, and collection activity to inform strategic decision-making and operational improvements.
• Establish and monitor service standards, performance metrics, and response expectations to ensure high-quality, student-focused service delivery.
• Champion business process automation, technology enhancements, and modernization efforts that improve operations, compliance, and student experience.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate regulatory, financial, and operational risks associated with student accounts receivable, cash management, and bursar functions.
• Represent the Bursar's Office on institutional, systemwide, and cross-functional committees, providing subject matter expertise and contribute to strategic planning initiatives.
• Foster culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and customer services excellence within bursar operations.

Leadership

• Foster a student-centered, service-oriented culture that emphasizes professionalism, responsiveness, and positive student experiences.
• Set clear service expectations and accountability measures
• Hire, train and provide ongoing supervision, coaching, mentoring, and performance feedback to support employee development and departmental goals.
• Develop a cross-trained team capable of effectively supporting multiple functions in the Bursar's unit to enhance operational flexibility and improve customer service.
• Ensure staff consistently apply institutional, system, state, and federal policies, procedures, and regulations related to student accounts and receivables.
• Create and implement escalation and resolution protocols for complex student issues, ensuring timely, equitable, and student-focused outcomes.
• Promote employee engagement, continuous learning, and professional development to strengthen college excellence

Accounting Controls

• Develop, implement, and monitor internal controls governing cash handling, refunds, receipting, account adjustments, write-offs, and other student accounts transactions to ensure accuracy, compliance, and financial integrity.
• Ensure appropriate segregation of duties across operations to mitigate risk and strengthen accountability
• Manage compliance with payment card industry (PCI) standards and payment security requirements, ensuring the protection of sensitive information.
• Establish and maintain fraud prevention, detection, and reporting processes to minimize financial risk and support regulatory compliance.
• Create, maintain and regularly update documented procedures, workflows, and internal control practices to support consistent operations and knowledge transfer.
• Manage sponsorship billing, invoicing and collection processes to ensure accurate account management, timely revenue collection, and compliance.

Accounting System Reconciliation

• Manage the reconciliation of student accounts receivable, cash transactions, merchant services activity, refunds, and payment processors, and related financial systems to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Validate the integrity and accuracy of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system transaction, Interfaces, and data integrations between systems.
• Monitor, investigate, and resolve reconciliation variances, discrepancies, and outstanding items in a timely manner to maintain financial accuracy.
• Manage month-end balancing and reconciliation activities to ensure compliance with accounting standards, institutional policies, and reporting requirements.
• Collaborate with Finance, Accounting and other stakeholders to address reconciliation issues and support effective financial operations.
• Ensure the accuracy of financial reporting and maintain the integrity of general ledger transactions related to student accounts and receivables.
• Monitor accounts receivable aging, allowance methodologies, and write-off calculations to support accurate reporting and effective receivables management.
• Support fiscal year-end closing activities, audit preparation, and external and internal audit requests.
• Develop, document, and continuously improve reconciliation processes and controls to enhance efficiency, compliance, and financial stewardship.

General Support & Student Service

• Provide leadership in the resolution of complex or escalated student, parent, and sponsor account concerns, ensuring student-centered resolutions.
• Assist students with account questions, payment options, refunds, due dates, and registration holds to support their academic and financial success.
• Coordinate with other college departments to resolve student account issues and ensure seamless service delivery.
• Support registration, enrollment and peak service periods by providing accurate and timely student account information, guidance, and operational support.
• Develop, oversee, and evaluate student communication strategies and campaigns related to billing, payments, refunds, deadlines, and account responsibilities.
• Manage the accuracy, accessibility, and effectiveness of student-facing materials, forms, publications, and website content related to student account services.
• Analyze trends in student inquiries, complaints and service requests to identify process improvement opportunities and enhance the student experience.
• Work with students experiencing emergency or unique situations to provide appropriate account solutions while following institutional policies.
• Participate in orientation, outreach activities, and educational events to promote financial literacy and increase awareness of student account services.

Competencies:

• Leadership: Manages a broad team of professionals who complete, supports a variety of functional tasks and processes, and serves a diverse multi-campus organization.
• Accounting & Finance: Serves as the College's accounting subject matter expert around student accounts receivable and other accounts receivables with a focus on effective processes and technical proficiency that ultimately deliver accurate and timely student accounts receivable records and statements.
• Communication (Verbal and Written): Utilizes strong oral and written communication skills to share critical accounting information and concepts with a wide variety of audiences.
• Critical Thinking: Understands, analyzes and summarizes complex accounting and financial information. Evaluates and streamlines accounting and student-centered processes.
• Collaboration: Works effectively with students, faculty, staff, administration and external stakeholders to understand their needs and utilizes judgement on how to build relationships.
• Ethics: Works with high levels of diplomacy, confidentiality and discretion with sensitive information.
• Organizational Skills: Plans, develops, and maintains Department structures, projects and processes that support clear and robust accounting practices and staff professional development at both the College and System level. Manages multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Champions equity and inclusion within the College and the Department through policies and practices that support all staff, students and visitors.
• Goal Attainment: Sets and achieves goals related to timelines and project management.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in business administration, Accounting, Finance or a related field.
• Three years of increasingly responsible professional accounting experience which includes student accounts receivable.
• Demonstrated staff supervision experience.
• Knowledge of standard business practices and policies including budgeting, planning, and supervisory practices/principles.
• Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, SharePoint and PowerPoint and have a working knowledge of accounting-related software.

Selection Process:

The selection process for this position will be conducted through a competitive, merit-based evaluation of all qualified applicants. Preliminary screening will be based on the completed application package submitted by the candidate.