Associate Director, Financial Aid Outreach & Retention (Student Financial Support)

Associate Director, Financial Aid Outreach & Retention

The Office of Student Financial Support is seeking an exceptional individual to join our team as the Associate Director, Financial Aid Outreach & Retention. Reporting to the Senior Director, Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Associate Director is a member of the management team within the Office of Student Financial Support. As a collaborative group, they work closely with the Senior Director and are responsible for the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and communication plans to ensure that Office and University wide goals are successfully met.

The Associate Director is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive financial aid outreach, student engagement, financial literacy, and retention strategy, with a sharp focus on serving first generation and limited income (FLI) students. The ideal candidate is a highly motivated and innovative professional, with outstanding interpersonal skills, a commitment to the principles of access and diversity, and providing the best customer service and student support to our families. This position plays a key role in ensuring that our outreach and retention initiatives are cohesive, integrated, and aligned with the mission of Student Financial Support.

The Associate Director will work closely with the Associate Director of Financial Aid Communications, Associate Director of Financial Aid Advising, and Associate Director of Financial Aid Tech Ops and Scholarships. The individual in this role will also liaise with other key stakeholder offices to identify opportunities to support both current and prospective students as new initiatives are conceived, developed, and launched. S / he will have oversight of six outreach and retention team members, including three direct reports, (2) Financial Aid Operations Manager's and (1) Assistant Director, Financial Aid (Financial Wellness Coordinator). The Associate Director will be responsible for oversight and delegation of federal student aid programs managed by the retention team, including Satisfactory Academic Progress, federal verification oversight, enhanced loan counseling, federal work study, and the completion of financial aid compliance reports.

This position offers a hybrid work model. Candidates must have the ability to participate in virtual meetings, receive and make phone calls, attend required in-person meetings, workshops, and conferences.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and implement events and outreach / retention programming to engage with students, and to help ensure the on-time renewal of financial aid and retention of students.
• Work closely with the Financial Aid and Admissions communication teams to ensure that programming is uniform, cohesive, integrated, personalized to target audiences, and aligned with institutional objectives.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for coordination and troubleshooting of student financial concerns for other Homewood departments. Receives, investigates, and responds to difficult, sensitive problems and student complaints in a professional manner.
• Work closely with undergraduate admissions to prepare financial aid packages for prospective Cummings Baltimore / DC scholars and students selected for the Hop-In program.
• Determines staffing and support needs for outreach programs, projects, activities, and in-person / virtual services.
• Conduct Financial Aid 101 workshops, Financial Literacy trainings, High School Financial Aid Nights, and other events throughout the year.
• Guide the office strategy for the timing and delivery of events relative to other goals
• Perform outreach (phone calls, e-mails, text messaging campaigns, events, etc.) to current and prospective students who need assistance navigating their bills, financial aid renewal, refunds, etc.
• Oversee the curation and promotion of financial wellness / literacy content and training, including (but not limited to) material from the Ocelot and iGrad platforms.
• Help design and develop a non-credit financial literacy course available to students in both a synchronous and asynchronous format.
• Assesses the performance and success of programming and events through surveys.
• Convene and lead the Financial Aid Student Advisory Board
• Collaborate with campus partners, such as the Center for Student Success and the Student Outreach and Support team, to extend our reach, impact, and network of support for vulnerable students.
• Designs, implements, and evaluates proactive intervention, retention, and support activities for the high-need financial aid population.

Special Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Minimum Qualifications