Senior Specialist, Financial Aid

Financial Aid Senior Specialist

The College of Southern Nevada appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. We ask that you keep in mind the following when completing your application:

Once you start the application process you cannot save your work. Please ensure you have all required attachment(s) available to complete your application before you begin the process.

Required attachments are listed below on the posting. Your application will not be considered without the required attachments.

Please note that applications must be submitted prior to the close of the recruitment. Once a recruitment has closed, applications will no longer be accepted.

If you are unable to attach the required documents to your online application or need assistance regarding the application process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team within Human Resources via email at View email address on click.appcast.io or call View phone number on click.appcast.io to be directed to the appropriate Recruiter.

About the College of Southern Nevada

Founded in 1971 and situated in the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area, the College of Southern Nevada is the most ethnically diverse college in Nevada and the first to receive the HSI designation. We've prioritized providing an affordable, collaborative, and welcoming environment that allows all students to shine. CSN is a fully accredited institution offering hundreds of degrees and certificates in 70 academic programs. CSN proudly hosts students from all 50 states and over 60 countries with a student population that mirrors Clark County Nevada, one of the most diverse counties in the US. More than one-third of our students are first-generation, half are Pell Grant eligible, and nearly three-fourths are part-time.

Institutional Commitment to Diversity

The College of Southern Nevada recognizes that embracing diversity maximizes faculty and staff contribution to our goals and provides the best opportunity for student achievement. We seek faculty who demonstrate their commitment to our communities and value diverse perspectives. Faculty are intentional about providing culturally responsive instruction to promote creativity, innovation, growth, and academic excellence.

We strive to uphold our mission, to create, and preserve an environment that is dedicated to achieving educational access, equitable resources, inviolable dignity, and opportunity for all to participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

We ensure that all our work and efforts are transformative and build a truly Students First institutional culture. We commit to the journey ahead, embrace difficult conversations, examine implicit biases, and remain steadfast in our continuous process of improvement. We do this by creating, uplifting, and centering all the voices and experiential knowledge of our students, employees, and campus communities.

CSN is committed to providing a place of work and learning free of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, disability, religion, age, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, and veteran status in the programs or activities which it operates.

Benefits of Working at CSN

• Grant-in-Aid: Tuition & fee assistance for employees and their families at NSHE institutions.
• Time Off: CSN provides a variety of time off options to help employees manage their work-life balance.
• Holidays: All CSN employees receive 12 paid holidays per year.
• Benefits: CSN offers attractive and customizable health insurance plans for employee and dependents.
• Retirement Plan: Participants contribute 19.25% with 100% employer match.
• On-site Early Childhood Education Center services available
• Learning & professional development opportunities.
• Active CSN Affinity Groups that focus on campus-wide diversity initiatives to create a welcoming campus climate.

Job Description

Under the general direction of the Assistant Director (AD), this position provides students, families, CSN staff and external community with information about financing higher education utilizing: loan repayment & debt management strategies, costs of attendance, basic financial planning, financial aid policy & procedure, necessary paperwork, business processes, how to negotiate web portal information, interactive applications (multiple online/virtual platforms) and in-person/phone counseling services. The focus is to manage all outreach activities and orientation, while performing a variety of tasks related to the assigned area of responsibility.

The Financial Aid Senior Specialist works directly with students and their families to enhance their understanding of their rights and responsibilities as a financial aid recipient. Program eligibility rules are communicated to students and families regarding scholarships, grants, work study employment, student loans, and state financial aid programs.

The incumbent will also support other operations of the office which include but are not limited to client service, verification processing, satisfactory academic progress (SAP), R2T4, loans, packaging and awarding, work study, appeals, etc. This consists of helping with processing areas as needed and providing support during high need periods. The position will have a broad knowledge of financial aid surrounding federal, state, and institutional regulations and policies.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in student personnel, counseling, business, or related field from an accredited college/university; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 3 years of progressively increased financial aid administrative experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in student personnel, Counseling, business, or related field from an accredited college/university.
• Experience working in a community college setting.
• Knowledge of PeopleSoft or similar Enterprise level software administering financial aid.

The ideal candidate should possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• The ability to perform the Return of Title IV calculations.
• The ability to collaborate and work successfully with a diverse and varied group of staff & faculty and/or student population.
• The ability to utilize and implement best practices to provide efficient and effective office operations that results in superior student experience.
• The ability to work extended hours, including weekends and holidays during peak season.
• Knowledge of Return of Title IV regulations.
• Knowledge of PeopleSoft or similar Enterprise level software administering financial aid.
• Possess strong critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills, and acumen.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively convey information to internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Experience working in a large college/university setting. Community college experience a plus.
• Experience with providing presentations in small and large group settings.
• Understand, evaluate, and provide strategic input on the impact of proposed and enacted changes in financial aid laws, regulations, guidelines, and effective practices.
• Read, interpret, and apply laws, regulations, and guidelines impacting the effective, efficient, and equitable performance of financial aid programs.
• Demonstrated success using inquiry and evidence to inform decision-making, short- and long-term planning.
• Possess skills to interact and build with students, families, and the campus community.
• Proficiency in use of a personal computer and current software applications including but not limited to Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• Make decisions and take actions independently for a variety of diverse situations.
• Show a high degree of creativity and initiative.

Salary Information

• Administrative Faculty C The Starting Salary is $61,553

* This position is contingent upon ongoing and available funding.

Required Attachment(s)

To be considered for this position, please upload the following documents to your application:

• Resume/CV
• Cover Letter
• Contact information for three professional references (Name, email and phone number)
• Unofficial Academic Transcripts (Applicants who have earned their degrees outside of the United States must have their educational transcripts evaluated by an approved evaluator if their college or university is not listed in the most recent edition of the Higher Education Directory, published by Higher Education Publications, Inc. If you have any questions regarding this, please reach out to the Human Resources, Talent Acquisition & Classification team).

Applicants should fully describe their qualifications and experience with specific reference to each of the minimum and preferred qualifications. The search committee will use this information during the initial review of application materials.