Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services

The Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services is a newly created role seeking to enhance collaborative efforts of the offices of Financial Aid and Student Accounts (Bursar) to achieve departmental and institutional goals and to achieve enrollment and student success strategies. We welcome an innovative AVP who will provide strategic leadership, planning, implementation, and measured operational excellence. This role reports to the Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management, and is an integral member of the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) leadership team.

The AVP provides leadership to a diverse staff focused on delivering high student engagement in an environment that is highly regulated and complaint driven, and requires great transparency. This position is responsible for leading strategic planning and implementation of financial aid award and communication plans, predictive modeling, budget management, supervision of 30 employees, operations management, and successful collaboration with academic schools and other university constituents. The incumbent ensures federal and state regulatory compliance, develops best practices and is a leading authority on all matters pertaining to Financial Aid and Student Accounts. The AVP is a key leader with gravitas, who brings fresh ideas and perspectives, possesses an ability to galvanize, build consensus and institutionalize policies that are both practical and innovative while focusing on The New School’s commitment of enhancing student success.

Responsibilities:

• Set the strategic direction for the offices of Financial Aid and Student Accounts with specific focus on improving yield of incoming students and retention of current students.
• Establish best practices across Student Accounts and Financial Aid processes and ensure regulatory compliance. Oversee Audits and Program Reviews.
• Institute targeted outreach programs to engage high risk, high need students in a strategic and collaborative effort throughout SEM to yield and retain these students.
• Develop and oversee implementation of Financial Literacy Initiative to better equip students and families to make sound, informed decisions on the implications of loan debt, payment plans and financing their college education.
• Identify new opportunities for and manage existing community outreach to local schools to enhance public knowledge of opportunities to fund education available to college bound high school students.
• Led the implementation of predictive modeling for graduate and undergraduate degree programs to expend university scholarship funds strategically and responsibly to meet net tuition revenue goals.
• Devise and implement strategies to ensure teams work collaboratively with Admission Directors to strategically recruit talented students to meet the University’s enrollment goals.
• Oversee internal and external communication systems, mechanisms, and literature used to inform students and families about financial aid policies and procedures.
• Monitor and report on spending of multi-million dollar Institutional Funding and accounts receivable across all school divisions.
• Collaborate with Development and Alumni Relations to develop strategic awarding of Restricted Funds to serve both students and donors appropriately.
• Create professional development plans for Student Financial Services staff with ongoing training and conferences to improve awareness of the ever changing higher education landscape.
• Mentor and develop team of direct reports to enhance professional development and overall knowledge of Student Accounts and Financial Aid from a Strategic Enrollment Management perspective.
• In concert with IT department, continually automate processes and procedures to insure data integrity and expedient delivery of information to students.
• Collaborate with the Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management to assess institutional discount strategies and review and monitor financial aid appeals.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Candidate should possess at minimum a bachelor’s degree in higher education management, business, or a related field; Equivalent experience may be considered; Master’s degree preferred
• Qualified candidate will have demonstrated excellence and strong professional ethics in a Financial Aid or Student Accounts Position
• Applicant with at least 10 years of progressive related experience will be given greater consideration
• Experience managing budgets for financial aid/scholarships and departmental operations
• Proven success in supervising a team of knowledgeable financial aid and student accounts professionals
• Knowledge of current technologies and issues concerning student accounts and financial aid in higher education
• Demonstrated administrative and organizational skills
• Business acumen, professional demeanor, with strong interpersonal and communication skills required to work within a collaborative university team

In addition to a dynamic and progressive work environment, The New School offers a competitive benefits package, including medical and dental insurance, retirement plans, flexible spending accounts and a tuition waiver. We encourage a healthy work/life balance and offer employee assistance services, health and well-being programs and over four weeks of vacation time per year.

Apply with us and discover the rewards and opportunities in working for a world-class, urban university.

Interested candidates must apply online at: https://careers.newschool.edu/postings/14583