The Director of Financial Aid exists to provide leadership, direction, and management of activities related to the successful operation of the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. This position is responsible for oversight of federal, state, institutional scholarship and athletic aid programs and compliance with federal, state, NCAA and institutional regulations. This includes keeping policies and procedures up to date as federal, state and NCAA regulations and University policies change. In addition to knowledge of federal and state financial aid regulations, the Director must have knowledge of IRS and Homeland Security regulations. The Director is an important part of the Enrollment Services team which works to increase retention and graduation of students. This position determines when additional resources (fiscal or human) are necessary to adequately oversee aid programs and provide services to UTC students, prospective students and their families and makes these requests through the budget process to the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Oversees strategic planning for the Office of Student Financial Aid; evaluates processes for improvements to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and compliance; drives the automation/improvements/advancement of processes in the financial aid office; develops and monitors institutional policies to ensure that office procedures are conducted in an equitable, consistent, and accurate manner and that they are in compliance with applicable federal, state and university regulations; institute process improvement to ensure updates are made and student experience is enhanced; responsible for the recruitment, selection, and performance evaluation of employees; policies and procedures to ensure compliant awarding, disbursing, and accounting of funds; the system for the submission of institutional, federal and state reports; and the system for dissemination of information and services to clients; oversees grant writing and fundraising to provide funding for events and supplies to support financial literacy and outreach functions.

Responsible for the development and implementation of in-house training and professional development for employees; provides on/off campus presentations to high school, civic clubs, etc. concerning financial aid opportunities and processes; oversees cohort default rate management, financial literacy education and other outreach/in reach programs; represents the office at campus, off campus federal and state meetings and professional associations; delegates written authorization for expenditures from department accounts and from university, federal and state aid accounts; prepares and submits federal, state, and institutional fiscal and programmatic reports and the provision of responses to audit findings and/or exceptions.

Responsible for effective customer service and communication to students and parents; provide financial counseling to students/parents and assist them in securing funding to finance their education; meet with and respond to student and parent concerns regarding the financial aid process; work to minimize processing time in order to provide more timely information about funding options to prospective and current UTC students; serves as a liaison with many campus departments and outside agencies.

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

Must have strong IT and processing workflow perspective
Must be a proven leader who is able to provide direction, listen effectively, make sound decisions, and motivate staff
Must have strong organizational skills, and multi-tasking capabilities
Ability to find solutions and develop implementation plans in a highly automated environment
Must be able to access information and reports in the National Student Loan Data System
Must not be in default on Title IV student loans
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Review of applications will begin on February 16, 2024 and continue until the position is filled. Applications received by this date will receive priority consideration.

Minimum Qualifications: Masters degree in Business or related field and five years’ experience in Student Financial Aid Office at the Director, Associate or Assistant Director level.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience with proprietary software used by the UTC Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships (Banner, Argos, Automic, Campus Logic, NextGen).

The University of Tennessee Chattanooga is an EEO/AA/Title VI/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA institution. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status.