Financial Aid Processor

Job Title

Financial Aid Processor

Agency

Texas A&M University

Department

Academic Affairs Recruiting Office

Proposed Minimum Salary

$14.53 hourly

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Our Commitment

Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment for all visitors, students, faculty, and staff by promoting a culture that embraces inclusion, diversity, equity, and accountability. Diverse perspectives, talents and identities are vital to accomplishing our mission (https://www.tamu.edu/statements/mission.html) and living our core values (https://www.tamu.edu/about/coreValues.html) .

Who we are

The mission of Scholarships & Financial Aid is to provide students and their families with information and financial resources to attend Texas A&M University, along with support programs that promote higher education and developmental opportunities. We administer scholarships and financial aid, which include the following programs: grants, student loans, student employment, veteran educational benefits, athletic aid coordination, short-term loans, and emergency tuition and fee loans. In addition our office provides advising on the programs listed above. Our office also assist students in gaining financial literacy knowledge through our Money Education Center. Our office is responsible for processing student aid and veteran educational benefits for College Station, Galveston, all Health Science Center sites and Qatar which totaled approximately $836 million in financial aid assistance for the prior academic year.

What we want

Scholarships and Financial Aid is looking for a Financial Aid Processor to provide support for the Processing Team in awarding aid and reviewing incoming financial aid application data and documents. We need an individual who is detail oriented and loves working in a fast-paced, high productivity environment. We are looking for a someone who is able to work independently, research issues, and problem-solve to recommend solutions to the team. We need an individual who subscribes to and supports our commitment as stated above. The selected candidate will subscribe to and support our commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) as stated above. If this description appeals to you, we invite you to apply to be considered for this opportunity.

What you need to know

Please note: To serve in this position you must comply with Texas A&M System Policy 07.02 Texas Higher Education Fair Lending Practices. That is, you must be in good standing on all Federal Student Loans. This job also r equires some evening and weekend work, as well as travel.

Salary: $14.53 - $18.67 hourly

COVID-19 information: Texas A&M University monitors and updates our recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes to align with local, state and federally mandated health guidelines to keep employees, prospective employees, and visitors as safe as possible. Each department has established both remote and in-person procedures for conducting these processes, which include sanitizing common spaces, a mask policy, and maintaining safe physical distancing to the extent possible. Departments will provide the procedures to be followed at each step of the recruiting process.

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to meet deadlines and maintain a high level of accuracy, professionalism, and a customer service orientation

• Working knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet programs

• Ability to work individually or as a team in a dynamic organization

• Good interpersonal and communication skills

• Must be literate in the English language and able to comprehend, give and follow both written and verbal instructions

• Ability to organize and make decisions

• Ability to relate well with a diverse student population

• Ability to work well under pressure

• Ability to use tact, diplomacy, and judgment in dealing with all customers

• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others

Other Requirements:

• Requires some evening and weekend work, as well as travel

• Must comply with Texas A&M System Policy 07.02 Texas Higher Education Fair Lending Practices

• Must be in good standing on all Federal Student Loans

• The U.S. Dept. of Education will not grant access to student loan data for any individual who is in default status

• Access to such information is a necessity for this position

• Must be able to rectify default status within three months of employment

• Good standing must be maintained for continued employment

Preferred Experience:

• Prior experience in financial aid, scholarships, student employment, student veteran’s services or related experience

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of current versions of Microsoft products, including Windows and Office

• Knowledge of Financial Aid or Student Information Systems

• Bilingual in Spanish and English

• Knowledge of financial aid counseling, verification, rules, and regulations

• Background in general office conditions with much time spent in contact with students

• Ability to develop and make presentations

• Knowledge and experience in an enrollment management area focusing on outreach and/or retention

Responsibilities:

Reports

• Learns to work multiple specialized Team Processing reports

• Learns to review all students in REVIEW tracking groups to determine which tracking group they should be in and create requirements for said tracking group

• Learns to work reports related to ISIR data review – ensuring correct ISIR transaction is current record, reviewing ISIR for accurate data and making adjustments as needed, and determining students’ awards are accurate after FAFSA changes are made

• Learns to review ISIRs in a suspense status and learns to match to appropriate student in Banner

Specialized Team Activities

• Assists in specialized activities of Team Processing

• Learns to train others in the office and answers questions related to duties

• Uses discretion and independent judgement to research and resolve issues related to responsibilities

• Learns to serve as a backup for multiple reports which require independent judgement in the office as needed including reviewing student files to determine if they are eligible for additional subsidized loans and reviewing dependency questions

• Learns to serve as back-up with coordination of the scholarship check imaging and validation process

• Assists in preparing paper scholarship checks for deposit into University accounts

• Reviews scanned images of checks to ensure quality of images

• Learns to balance deposit total with total in imaging system

• Learns imaging processes and serves as back up to advisor responsible for them

• Learns to prepare documents for imaging, including but not limited to: identifying all documents, separating into batches, placing separator sheets as appropriate for imaging identification

• Learns to scan documents using the imaging system, including but not limited to: scanning batches of documents, validation of the documents scanned, and the release of these documents into the repository

Advising

• Learns to use discretion and independent judgment to advise and counsel students, parents, and/or prospective students in solving their educational financial problems through scholarships, loans, grants, employment and financial counseling

• Responds to questions and counseling needs in-person and by written, phone, and email means from currently enrolled students, prospective students and parents on an as-needed basis

• Assists with conducting on and off-campus presentations, seminars, and/or workshops for students (particularly high schools) and possibly for professional development training

• May work at resource tables as requested by groups from TAMU, prospective student groups, and others

• Learns to provide loan and indebtedness counseling to students on an individual basis

• Learns to award, revise, and/or approve the awarding of financial aid through the specific controls of program policy and guidelines

• Learns to make adjustments if necessary for compliance issues and submits the corrections through mainframe correction process or submits through FAA Access

Professional Development and Compliance

• Learns to interpret and maintain knowledge of current federal, state, and institutional policies, procedures, and regulations pertaining to financial aid, student employment, and scholarships

• Learns to provide back-up support for the Processing Team as needed

• This includes cross-training with other team members to learn different processes on team

• Learns to use discretion to respond to varied questions that may require researching and consolidating data regarding financial aid, scholarships, and specialized programs

• May attend local, state, and national workshops, and conferences; hosts and presents at various workshops

• Must be able to travel to workshops

• May participate in or lead working groups

General

• Assists staff members with workshops, resource tables and special events sponsored by the department

• Stays abreast of changes in tax and financial aid information to ensure compliance

• Suggests and assists in implementation of innovations in the data entry operation

• Assists in the development and implementation of new and revised procedures that ensure the timely delivery of aid

• May provide assistance and/or guidance to other financial aid staff to ensure that processing activities adhere to established policies and procedures

• Performs other duties as assigned

Instructions to Applicants: Applications received by Texas A&M University and TAMHSC, must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to pre-populate the online application.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer committed to diversity.

Howdy and thank you for your interest in a career with Texas A&M University. As the flagship campus of The Texas A&M University System, we are located in College Station, Texas with a student population of more than 64,000 and nearly 9,000 faculty and staff.The Spirit of Aggieland is unmistakable. We are a unique American institution, fostering a culture of friendliness, diversity, compassion and respect for one another. Our unique history and rich traditions make Texas A&M special.From our benefits package and professional development opportunities to our retirement programs, Texas A&M is a great place to work. Your path to a great career starts here!Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer committed to diversity.

If you need assistance in applying for this job, please contact (979) 845-5154.

Useful Links:

• Benefit Programs (https://www.tamus.edu/business/benefits-administration)

• Retirement

• Employee Discount Program (https://employees.tamu.edu/benefits/healthy-behaviors/perks.html)

• Flexible Spending Accounts

• University Holidays (http://www.tamus.edu/business/human-resources/am-system-holidays/)

• Legal Statements

• New Employee Orientation (https://employees.tamu.edu/orgdev/courses.html#EmployeeOrientations)

• Prospective Employees

• Safety and Security Notices (https://orec.tamu.edu/clery/annual-security-report/)

• Training and Development

• USERRA (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/userra)

• Nondiscrimination Notice