Financial Aid Advisor

Financial Aid Advisor

ACU is affiliated with the fellowship of the Church of Christ. This position requires the employee to be a professing Christian and to be willing to support the Christian mission of ACU.

Responsible for student customer service, advising students to financial aid and accounts receivable processes. The role focuses on providing optimal student experience related to students financing their education. The position communicates with students regarding their options and ensures financial processes are complete in compliance with established guidelines.

Financial Aid Advisors (FAAs) are responsible for the verification of student aid eligibility, packaging of student aid, providing financial aid counseling, and facilitating problem-solving with students, student spouses, and parents. FAAs manage student accounts to ensure financial settlement/clearance is in place for all new, continuing, and returning students. FAAs also participate in university-wide retention and persistence efforts.

Basic Responsibilities

• Financial Settlement/Clearance
• Caseload Management
• Department Operations

Essential Duties

• Financial Settlement/Clearance

  • Packages and awards student financial aid in accordance with institutional and governmental policies and regulations.
  • Maintains a thorough knowledge of federal, state, and institutional financial aid topics to counsel students and parents about receiving and maintaining eligibility for financial aid and scholarships at ACU
  • Assists in the support of new students through the onboarding process: conducting welcome calls, attending grad team meetings, reviewing students' accounts and communicating clear next steps for the student and internal teams.
  • Advise students regarding institutional financial policies, procedures, and payment options
  • Maintain ongoing communication with students, focusing most heavily on students lacking financial settlement/clearance, those with delinquent accounts, or financial holds.
  • Assist students in making informed decisions by providing ethical, timely, accurate, and comprehensive financial information and student resources
  • Use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to address and resolve student issues and ensure positive student experiences. Address potential and/or current student concerns and seek appropriate resolution to problems
  • Assist students by performing appropriate follow-up and coordination with team members. This includes working with employees in a team environment and providing accurate student information and assistance to other team members in and/or outside of their functional area
  • Communicate effectively with potential and/or current students via telephone, email, video calls, and/or in-person.
  • Ensure students are in compliance with financial policies and procedures
  • Pro-rate federal loan pre and post disbursment

• Caseload Management

  • Attend scheduled cross-departmental meetings with Admissions, Student Success, and Training/Development, as requested to manage the caseload
  • Monitor student participation and progress through their active enrollment to ensure that students are in alignment with University financial policies
  • Review, document, and monitor student financial plan information on an ongoing basis to resolve issues and facilitate student success; report any data integrity issues found
  • Maintain accurate and up to date performance metrics for student caseload

• Department Operations

  • Communicate regularly with supervisor on feedback regarding any issues within the team relating to (but not confined to) workflows, work volumes, operational issues/matters, IT issues/matters, training requirements, enhancement requests, etc.
  • Collaborate frequently with other Student Financial Services team members (Dallas SFS, Abilene SFS, and Wildcat Central) for billing, needs analysis, verification, and other financial aid regulatory support.
  • Attend and participate in professional training and mentorship
  • Monitor personal Key Performance Indicators and retention rate with a focus on continuous improvement

Professional Development Requirements

• Skills

  • Exceptional interpersonal communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Strong planning, organizational, and time management skills
  • Utilizes critical thinking and problem-solving skills

• Training

  • High-level knowledge of the higher education and student development theory
  • Computer literate and able to learn proprietary software applications including but not limited to:
  • SalesForce
  • Banner
  • TalkDesk
  • Microsoft Suite

Qualifications

Professional

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Ability to travel, must possess a valid driver's license
• Able to work flexible hours conducive to contacting students when available.
• Minimum of 2 years of Higher Education Experience. Financial aid advising experience preferred

Personal

• Goal-oriented and driven to assist people with meeting their educational goals
• Self-motivated with the ability to successfully work independently or in a team environment
• Must be student and advisor oriented and have the ability to perform multiple tasks efficiently and effectively
• Motivating others by creating a climate in which people can succeed
• Collaborative within a team environment
• Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external stakeholders
• Maintains professional appearance (i.e. neat and orderly attire) and work environment (I.e. clean and organized dedicated workspace with professional background).
• Ability to adapt in a fast-paced and dynamic environment
• Supports and upholds all student-facing university policies
• Demonstrates personal and professional integrity
• Displays public support and pride in university initiatives, and assists others in seeing the positive aspects of ACU
• Complies with all ACU employee policies and procedure

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to use a telephone or headset equipment. Work is performed in an office environment.
• May be required to the manual operation of general office equipment and lift up to 30 pounds
• Limited travel may be required – locations vary and some overnight travel may be necessary

ACU does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, disability, genetic information, national or ethnic origin in employment opportunities, in keeping with applicable state and federal law.

ACU is committed to maintaining a safe and secure campus environment and protecting the university's financial and physical assets. Therefore, Abilene Christian University conducts background checks on all candidates for employment in security sensitive positions. As a current employee, it will be determined if you need an additional background check upon your hire.