Please Apply Directly to Dominican University of California at Elaine@turnersearchgroup.com

Director of Financial Aid

Dominican University of California is an independent university of Catholic heritage located 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California. Founded in 1890 by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, Dominican enjoys a century-long reputation for excellence in scholarship, research, and community outreach. The University offers more than 60 academic programs that reflect the diversity and creativity of the faculty and students. With more than 2,100 graduate and undergraduate students and a student to faculty ratio of 11:1, Dominican is able to successfully blend personal direction associated with smaller schools with the academic resources of a larger university. Students come from across the United States, although primarily from California, and represent 21 foreign countries. More than 80 percent of students attending Dominican receive some form of financial aid. Dominican is a comprehensive university with small classes sized to ensure that all students receive personal guidance from faculty mentors. In addition, the University offers undergraduate students a four-year guarantee: any student who carries a full course load and meets all the requirements for eight consecutive semesters will graduate in four years or spend a fifth year at Dominican tuition-free. U.S. News & World Report ranks Dominican University of California in the top tier of "Western Universities - Master's." For more information, please visit the University's website: The Director of Financial Aid is responsible for providing overall leadership of departmental operations, including management of federal, state and institutional aid funds as well as responsibility for compliance with federal and state programs. The financial aid program budgets are in excess of $40 million.

Reporting Relationships

The Director of Financial Aid reports to the Vice President for Enrollment Management and works collaboratively with other senior leaders and staff to support recruitment and retention efforts, program assessment and continuous process improvement.  The Director supervises a staff of five.

Responsibilities

• Provide project management and data reporting for Enrollment and Revenue Management System 
• Provide enrollment management financial aid analysis; ongoing updates on enrollment, retention and financial aid regulations, policies, and best practices
• As directed by the Vice President, disseminate information to senior management and to the campus community about progress, trends and results
• Monitor, maintain and forecast financial aid (budget, institutional discount rate, tracking of overall expenditures)
• Provide proactive leadership to develop goals and objectives for financial aid and student employment that support both the short- and long-range planning of the university
• Work with auditors and external federal and state agencies for any audit and program reconciliation requirements
• Prepare annual FISAP and other federal or state required reports
• Prepare and present financial aid program materials at campus and other recruiting or enrollment events
• Collaborate with other departments to ensure ongoing coordination and continuity of processing and consistency for students and their families
• Monitor, maintain, and review federal and state aid programs by disseminating regulatory updates, quality and compliance control, and oversight of reconciliation and audit processes      
• Maintain a comprehensive policies and procedures manual that ensures compliance with federal and state regulations
• Manage the federal work study program including fiscal management, operational management, compliance, and reporting
• Identify appropriate  training, workshops, or seminars that may include the annual SFA Conference, and either NASFAA or CASFAA annual conference, as well as attendance at PowerFAIDS Users Conference annually for ongoing software updates and best practices

Desired Qualifications

Education: Master's degree; or equivalent combination of education and experience

• Significant experience in financial aid including progressive responsibility and demonstrated ability to develop and implement financial aid programs
• Knowledge of financial aid and enrollment trends, reporting, modeling, and best practices
• Knowledge of federal financial aid regulations, student employment programs, needs analysis and packaging principles, and financial aid programs  
• Ability to focus on areas of concern to assure corrective action
• Demonstrated ability to communicate persuasively, orally and in writing, and to effectively present financial aid information to a variety of audiences
• Leadership experience at a comprehensive, tuition dependent university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees to undergraduate, graduate and other adult students
• A management style that is accessible, collaborative and service oriented with the ability to lead diverse groups
• Unquestionable integrity and a strong sense of professional ethics that demonstrate mutual trust and respect
• Sensitivity to the mission of Dominican and how that translates to all students
• A high level of initiative and energy
• Knowledge of federal financial aid processing software (such as COD, EDE, PowerFAIDS); Student loan processing software (such as ELM, COD); and
• report writing software (such as Crystal Reports)

  PROCESS FOR APPLICATION

Nominations and expressions of interest (CV and cover letter) may be sent in confidence to the University's consultant information below.

Consultant:

Elaine Turner

The Turner Group

Claremont, California

(909) 621-2590

Elaine@turnersearchgroup.com

Dominican University is an EEO employer supporting diversity in the workplace