Financial Aid Counselor/program Coordinator - Long Beach, United States - California State University

California State University

Verified Company

Long Beach, United States

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Mark Lane

beBee recruiter

Description

Job no: 539752

Work type:
Staff

Location:
Long Beach

Categories:
Unit - APC - Academic Professionals of California, Administrative, Temporary, Full Time

Job Summary

The Financial Aid Counselor/Program Coordinator performs a variety of processing and specialized financial aid functions to facilitate administration of financial aid programs and delivery of funds to students in support of access and student success.

Activities include determining eligibility; awarding aid; facilitating problem solving with students and parents; and making professional judgment decisions regarding student aid eligibility.

The Counselor provides leadership and program oversight over an assigned area of specialty; adjudicates appeals; and provides training to other staff.

The Counselor shares responsibility for delivering service excellence to students and customers daily through interactions ranging from correspondence regarding program navigation and problem solving, as well as counseling and outreach activities.

Key Responsibilities

Processing, Evaluation, and Decision-

Making Support:

Facilitate access and student success through a multitude of processing activities; providing decision-making support in complex situations; evaluating special circumstances; and exercising professional judgment.

Program Oversight and Liaison: Provide leadership; program management; and serve as liaison for a programmatic area of specialization.
Counseling and Outreach: Promote an environment of collaboration and service excellence by providing a broad range of student and familyfacing financial aid services, including counseling and outreach activities.
Knowledge and

Continual Learning:

Remain current with constantly evolving financial aid regulations (federal, state, institutional); emerging trends; and best practices in delivering service excellence.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

Treats all customers (students, faculty and staff colleagues) with dignity and respect, empathy, fairness and professionalism, consistent with the university mission, values and strategic vision.

Demonstrated ability to conduct presentations to groups of varying sizes. Experience representing a department/organization as knowledgeable and authoritative while remaining supportive, calm and professional even under highly charged circumstances. Ability to handle information in a confidential and professional manner. Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information and convey disappointing information.

Counselors deal continuously with the dissonance between a family's perceived need and the help available to the student. They must be able to deal effectively with students and families when the office is unable to fulfill expectations.

To resolve these situations without assistance, counselors are knowledgeable and authoritative while remaining supportive, calm and professional even under highly charged circumstances.

Counselors must also be effective and knowledgeable in communicating to diverse groups and larger audiences regarding the financial aid process and requirements, and willing to contribute whenever possible or needed to outreach activities.

Our service structure calls upon counselors to explain, and sometimes defend, professional judgment decisions made by their colleagues.

Because of the shared workload and working styles of a large group of individuals, successful counselors must be excellent communicators, good negotiators, team players and excellent colleagues who share the goals and the hard work necessary to achieve them.

Ability to handle multiple tasks with short deadlines. Ability to demonstrate excellent time management and organizational skills.

Ability to work effectively in a dynamic team and to multi-task in a fast-paced, diverse environment with students, faculty, and staff.

Financial aid counselors work under continuous pressure to meet self-imposed, department-imposed, and student-imposed deadlines while maintaining extreme attention to detail and accuracy.

Errors may result in significant liability for students as well as the institution. Counselors must successfully balance the pressures to complete assigned tasks, attend professional and developmental workshops, meetings, and training opportunities.

Ensures operational integrity and continuity by maintaining detailed descriptions of responsibilities, ranging from daily tasks to strategic activities and outcomes, and makes them available to supervisor.

Ensures quality, usability, and integrity of system data by working within approved processes and testing procedures. Ability to communicate with an ethnically and culturally diverse campus community.

Ability to follow all university policies, procedures, and guidelines including but not limited to safety, civility, information security, and non-discrimination policies and procedures.

Ability to contribute to a positive university experience for every student and assist in achieving