What are the responsibilities and job description for the Financial Aid Specialist position at Sierra Community College?
JOB
SUMMARY DESCRIPTIONUnder direction of assigned manager, administers federal, state, and District financial aid program funds; maintains accountability for financial aid funding; provides program accountability for all sources of financial aid including to represent the office during audits; serves as a technical expert regarding area of assignment; and relieves assigned manager of a variety of administrative details including to serve as lead over office staff and activities.DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICSThe Financial Aid Specialist is a paraprofessional classification performing a wide range of analytical duties for the Financial Aid program. This classification is distinguished from the Financial Aid Technician by assuming responsibility for making financial aid award decisions and development of financial aid packages to meet student educational needs.Need Help With Your Online Account?Use the online Help Guide or contact the NEOED Applicants Support Line at 855-524-5627 if you need assistance with your online applicant account. Applicant Support is available between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.If you have any questions about this position, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@sierracollege.edu.
EXAMPLE OF DUTIES
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES - The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.1. Ensures that timelines are met for District, state, and federal requirements relating to the duties of the Financial Aid Office.2. Performs a variety of duties related to funds eligibility and disbursement; analyzes applications and verifies eligibility in compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations and guidelines; verifies that all preliminary work done on student files is correct and meets all regulations; generates student financial aid packages; monitors attendance and academic progress of all students who have accepted federal and state financial aid; using a variety of tools, corrects amounts, returns checks, and requests stop payment/reissue of checks to ensure students receive the amounts they are eligible for; accounts for proper expenditures of financial aid funds; coordinates with Business Services Office to resolve problems; prepares various reports.3. Determines and assigns each student a budget and cost of attendance; makes adjustments as necessary; calculates student’s financial need figure and sets actual family contribution; determines and assigns packaging group; determines which funds the student is eligible for; determines each student’s Federal Workstudy eligibility; sets-up packaging parameters for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant; determines eligibility for various grants/programs; makes initial determination of subsidized/unsubsidized loan eligibility; oversees the preparation of award letters.4. Participates in the Financial Aid Advisory Committee (FAAC); gathers information from students to justify special petitions for the FAAC; processes files appropriately after petition determination.5. Plans, organizes, and directs the District’s Scholarship Program; compiles and publishes booklet and applications; advertises and disburses information about the program; develops and oversees on-campus scholarship bulletin board postings; oversees evaluation of scholarship applications to determine eligibility; establishes committee to read and score applications; provides support to the scholarship committee; notifies scholarship winners; notifies scholarship donor and request funds be sent to the District; directs the release of scholarship checks.6. Performs a variety of funds management and reconciliation duties; ensures that proper procedures/ policies/rules/regulations are applied to all federal/state programs; analyzes and calculates financial aid funding needed from various federal and state programs; monitors federal and state accounts to ensure that financial aid monies are accurately drawn and deposited into correct District accounts; coordinates with internal and external auditors to guarantee program fund accountability and integrity; completes federal payment documents; oversees and verifies federal and state grant and loan accounts; monitors federal authorization of funding; monitors status of program fund account ledgers with District’s Business Services staff and the Placer County Office of Education accounting systems; monitors repayments; balances fund accounts; reconciles assigned accounts.7. Performs a variety of research and reporting duties; gathers, interprets, and analyzes a variety of data; completes and prepares a variety of records and reports; develops and creates reconciled data files in order for information to be transmitted to other agencies; gathers data and information to complete surveys and reports including those for other agencies and institutions.8. Participates in the development/design of financial aid software reporting tools; establishes and maintains financial aid processing rules within the software; installs network software and updates; modifies and inputs data elements to comply with regulatory changes; coordinates with representatives from state and federal agencies to troubleshoot problems with specialized software and data base integrity; designs reports to provide information to applicable agencies.9. Performs a variety of customer service and marketing duties; serves as point of contact with students regarding office services; represents the District at activities with local area high schools and other external agencies/organizations; interacts with other District organizational units to provide students with a comprehensive financial aid package; conducts financial aid workshops; explains programs to students and assist them with completing applications; coordinates award activities with internal and external contacts.10. Performs a full range of clerical and administrative duties in support of program operations; relieves manager of administrative details including to research and resolve problems; assembles files and duplicates materials; composes and prepares office correspondence, materials, reports, forms, brochures, presentations, handbooks, manuals, and consumer information; answers phones, refers callers, and takes messages; maintains and orders supplies.11. Maintains current knowledge and learn new state and federal laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to financial aid; reviews updated or new technical instructions or references; attends seminars, conferences, workshops, and other training sessions; participates in the development of new/revised procedures to accommodate changes; assists in providing training and direction to others regarding changes and new regulations including to create and disseminate new instructions.12. Trains and provides work direction to assigned student workers and temporary help as assigned.13. Performs related duties as required.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
WHY SIERRA? One of Aspen Institute’s Top 150 Community Colleges in the nationThe Accrediting Commission recognized Sierra “for its exemplary practice of providing personnel with opportunities for continued professional development in order to meet its mission.” This includes providing students and employees with a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our students, etc. Public Employee’s Retirement System (PERS)18 paid holidays (including extended time off during the winter break)12 accrued paid vacation days per year (vacation accrual increases over time)Competitive benefits packageFlexible work schedules may be availableCurrently during summers, some employee groups participate in 4x10 schedulesQualifying Employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (in most cases)Sierra College is a Community College located near Sacramento, California where a heavy emphasis is placed on academic excellence and student success. Since its founding in 1936, Sierra College has focused on quality instruction and meeting the evolving needs of the students and communities that it serves. The Sierra Community College District covers more than 3,200 square miles and serves the Northern California foothill counties of Placer and Nevada, as well as parts of El Dorado and Sacramento. We serve over 17,000 students throughout the region in both on-ground and online courses, including students at our main Rocklin Campus as well as at two centers located in Grass Valley and Tahoe/Truckee. Our District prides itself on academic excellence. Sierra College has a strong commitment to the achievement of equity and inclusion among its faculty, staff, and students and values the rich, diverse backgrounds that make up the campus community. A strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds. This includes persons with disabilities, various gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as individuals from historically underrepresented communities and other groups. Our District is committed to providing strategies for success and proactive student-centered practices and policies focused on eliminating equity gaps to ensure the District provides an inclusive educational and employment environment focused on strategies for success and equitable outcomes for all. As an institution, Sierra College is committed to eliminating the equity gap in all student populations with dynamic, learner-centered practices and policies that fully engage the college community. The ideal candidate will share the College’s commitment to helping its racially and socioeconomically diverse students succeed in their degree and career objectives. Currently, Sierra College enrolls 17,800 students per term, where approximately: 23% of Sierra College’s students are Latin(o)(a)(x)(e), 3% are African-American/Black, 2% are Filipino, 6% are Asian, 1% are American Indian/Alaskan Native, 8% are Multiethnic and 55% are White. The successful candidate will join a College dedicated to the use of culturally responsive strategies and methods that meet the varying needs of our students, faculty, staff, and surrounding community. Sierra College demonstrates its commitment to equity by supporting ongoing professional development for students, faculty, and staff. These opportunities include trainings and workshops on equity and inclusion, active Academic Senate standing committees concerned with student success and equity, a Presidential Equity Advisory Committee (PEAC), culturally responsive student engagement centers, support for our undocumented and AB540 students, campus-wide equity summits, a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our diverse students. Need Help With Your Online Account?Use the online Help Guide or contact the NEOED Applicants Support Line at 855-524-5627 if you need assistance with your online applicant account. Applicant Support is available between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.If you have any questions about this position, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@sierracollege.edu.Helpful Tip: Please note that as described above a strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds; and therefore, hiring committees assess candidates for these knowledge, skills, and abilities. Applicants may want to consider incorporating culturally-inclusive/equity-minded strategies practiced and/or evidence of the responsiveness to and understanding of the racial, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity of community college student populations throughout their application materials (including application and documents uploaded, if any). Please see the Sierra College website for additional helpful tips and tools for prospective applicants. Travel expenses may be partially reimbursed for candidates traveling beyond a 150 mile radius for second round interviews. All other travel expenses will be borne by the candidate (if in person interviews).Terms and Conditions of Employment: Other terms and conditions of employment are specified in the applicable collective bargaining agreements on file in the District Human Resources Department. Position description of record on file in the Human Resources Department. *Sierra Community College District currently operates campuses in Rocklin, Truckee and Grass Valley. In its management of a multi-campus environment, the District reserves right of assignment including the right to change assignment locations and shift assignments based on District need. Although this position may currently reside at the Rocklin campus, the assignment location may be subject to change as needed. Additionally, the district reserves the right to cancel, revise or re-announce this position as well as any and all positions at any time.EEO/TITLE IX EMPLOYERSierra College is an equal employment opportunity employer committed to nondiscrimination and the achievement of diversity and equity among its faculty, staff, and students. Persons with inquiries about the application of Title IX and/or EEO may contact the Director of Diversity, EEO & Title IX (Title IX Coordinator) at the address below, at (916) 660-7006 or via email at EEOT9@sierracollege.edu.Persons with questions regarding reasonable accommodation of physical and other disabilities should contact the Sierra College Human Resources Department at (916) 660-7105. If you have limitations hearing or speaking, the State of California offers a specially-trained Communications Assistant (CA) that can relay telephone conversations for all of your calls. Dial 711 to reach the California Relay Service (CRS). Dialing 711 is for everyone, not just those who have difficulty hearing on a standard phone. If you prefer having your calls immediately answered in your mode of communication, dial one of the toll-free modality and language-specific numbers below. The call will be routed to the CRS provider. TTY/VCO/HCO to Voice English 1-800-735-2929 Spanish 1-800-855-3000 Voice to TTY/VCO/HCO English 1-800-735-2922 Spanish 1-800-855-3000 From or to Speech-to- Speech English & Spanish 1-800-854-7784
SUMMARY DESCRIPTIONUnder direction of assigned manager, administers federal, state, and District financial aid program funds; maintains accountability for financial aid funding; provides program accountability for all sources of financial aid including to represent the office during audits; serves as a technical expert regarding area of assignment; and relieves assigned manager of a variety of administrative details including to serve as lead over office staff and activities.DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICSThe Financial Aid Specialist is a paraprofessional classification performing a wide range of analytical duties for the Financial Aid program. This classification is distinguished from the Financial Aid Technician by assuming responsibility for making financial aid award decisions and development of financial aid packages to meet student educational needs.Need Help With Your Online Account?Use the online Help Guide or contact the NEOED Applicants Support Line at 855-524-5627 if you need assistance with your online applicant account. Applicant Support is available between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.If you have any questions about this position, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@sierracollege.edu.
EXAMPLE OF DUTIES
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES - The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.1. Ensures that timelines are met for District, state, and federal requirements relating to the duties of the Financial Aid Office.2. Performs a variety of duties related to funds eligibility and disbursement; analyzes applications and verifies eligibility in compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations and guidelines; verifies that all preliminary work done on student files is correct and meets all regulations; generates student financial aid packages; monitors attendance and academic progress of all students who have accepted federal and state financial aid; using a variety of tools, corrects amounts, returns checks, and requests stop payment/reissue of checks to ensure students receive the amounts they are eligible for; accounts for proper expenditures of financial aid funds; coordinates with Business Services Office to resolve problems; prepares various reports.3. Determines and assigns each student a budget and cost of attendance; makes adjustments as necessary; calculates student’s financial need figure and sets actual family contribution; determines and assigns packaging group; determines which funds the student is eligible for; determines each student’s Federal Workstudy eligibility; sets-up packaging parameters for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant; determines eligibility for various grants/programs; makes initial determination of subsidized/unsubsidized loan eligibility; oversees the preparation of award letters.4. Participates in the Financial Aid Advisory Committee (FAAC); gathers information from students to justify special petitions for the FAAC; processes files appropriately after petition determination.5. Plans, organizes, and directs the District’s Scholarship Program; compiles and publishes booklet and applications; advertises and disburses information about the program; develops and oversees on-campus scholarship bulletin board postings; oversees evaluation of scholarship applications to determine eligibility; establishes committee to read and score applications; provides support to the scholarship committee; notifies scholarship winners; notifies scholarship donor and request funds be sent to the District; directs the release of scholarship checks.6. Performs a variety of funds management and reconciliation duties; ensures that proper procedures/ policies/rules/regulations are applied to all federal/state programs; analyzes and calculates financial aid funding needed from various federal and state programs; monitors federal and state accounts to ensure that financial aid monies are accurately drawn and deposited into correct District accounts; coordinates with internal and external auditors to guarantee program fund accountability and integrity; completes federal payment documents; oversees and verifies federal and state grant and loan accounts; monitors federal authorization of funding; monitors status of program fund account ledgers with District’s Business Services staff and the Placer County Office of Education accounting systems; monitors repayments; balances fund accounts; reconciles assigned accounts.7. Performs a variety of research and reporting duties; gathers, interprets, and analyzes a variety of data; completes and prepares a variety of records and reports; develops and creates reconciled data files in order for information to be transmitted to other agencies; gathers data and information to complete surveys and reports including those for other agencies and institutions.8. Participates in the development/design of financial aid software reporting tools; establishes and maintains financial aid processing rules within the software; installs network software and updates; modifies and inputs data elements to comply with regulatory changes; coordinates with representatives from state and federal agencies to troubleshoot problems with specialized software and data base integrity; designs reports to provide information to applicable agencies.9. Performs a variety of customer service and marketing duties; serves as point of contact with students regarding office services; represents the District at activities with local area high schools and other external agencies/organizations; interacts with other District organizational units to provide students with a comprehensive financial aid package; conducts financial aid workshops; explains programs to students and assist them with completing applications; coordinates award activities with internal and external contacts.10. Performs a full range of clerical and administrative duties in support of program operations; relieves manager of administrative details including to research and resolve problems; assembles files and duplicates materials; composes and prepares office correspondence, materials, reports, forms, brochures, presentations, handbooks, manuals, and consumer information; answers phones, refers callers, and takes messages; maintains and orders supplies.11. Maintains current knowledge and learn new state and federal laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to financial aid; reviews updated or new technical instructions or references; attends seminars, conferences, workshops, and other training sessions; participates in the development of new/revised procedures to accommodate changes; assists in providing training and direction to others regarding changes and new regulations including to create and disseminate new instructions.12. Trains and provides work direction to assigned student workers and temporary help as assigned.13. Performs related duties as required.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
WHY SIERRA? One of Aspen Institute’s Top 150 Community Colleges in the nationThe Accrediting Commission recognized Sierra “for its exemplary practice of providing personnel with opportunities for continued professional development in order to meet its mission.” This includes providing students and employees with a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our students, etc. Public Employee’s Retirement System (PERS)18 paid holidays (including extended time off during the winter break)12 accrued paid vacation days per year (vacation accrual increases over time)Competitive benefits packageFlexible work schedules may be availableCurrently during summers, some employee groups participate in 4x10 schedulesQualifying Employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (in most cases)Sierra College is a Community College located near Sacramento, California where a heavy emphasis is placed on academic excellence and student success. Since its founding in 1936, Sierra College has focused on quality instruction and meeting the evolving needs of the students and communities that it serves. The Sierra Community College District covers more than 3,200 square miles and serves the Northern California foothill counties of Placer and Nevada, as well as parts of El Dorado and Sacramento. We serve over 17,000 students throughout the region in both on-ground and online courses, including students at our main Rocklin Campus as well as at two centers located in Grass Valley and Tahoe/Truckee. Our District prides itself on academic excellence. Sierra College has a strong commitment to the achievement of equity and inclusion among its faculty, staff, and students and values the rich, diverse backgrounds that make up the campus community. A strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds. This includes persons with disabilities, various gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as individuals from historically underrepresented communities and other groups. Our District is committed to providing strategies for success and proactive student-centered practices and policies focused on eliminating equity gaps to ensure the District provides an inclusive educational and employment environment focused on strategies for success and equitable outcomes for all. As an institution, Sierra College is committed to eliminating the equity gap in all student populations with dynamic, learner-centered practices and policies that fully engage the college community. The ideal candidate will share the College’s commitment to helping its racially and socioeconomically diverse students succeed in their degree and career objectives. Currently, Sierra College enrolls 17,800 students per term, where approximately: 23% of Sierra College’s students are Latin(o)(a)(x)(e), 3% are African-American/Black, 2% are Filipino, 6% are Asian, 1% are American Indian/Alaskan Native, 8% are Multiethnic and 55% are White. The successful candidate will join a College dedicated to the use of culturally responsive strategies and methods that meet the varying needs of our students, faculty, staff, and surrounding community. Sierra College demonstrates its commitment to equity by supporting ongoing professional development for students, faculty, and staff. These opportunities include trainings and workshops on equity and inclusion, active Academic Senate standing committees concerned with student success and equity, a Presidential Equity Advisory Committee (PEAC), culturally responsive student engagement centers, support for our undocumented and AB540 students, campus-wide equity summits, a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our diverse students. Need Help With Your Online Account?Use the online Help Guide or contact the NEOED Applicants Support Line at 855-524-5627 if you need assistance with your online applicant account. Applicant Support is available between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.If you have any questions about this position, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@sierracollege.edu.Helpful Tip: Please note that as described above a strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds; and therefore, hiring committees assess candidates for these knowledge, skills, and abilities. Applicants may want to consider incorporating culturally-inclusive/equity-minded strategies practiced and/or evidence of the responsiveness to and understanding of the racial, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity of community college student populations throughout their application materials (including application and documents uploaded, if any). Please see the Sierra College website for additional helpful tips and tools for prospective applicants. Travel expenses may be partially reimbursed for candidates traveling beyond a 150 mile radius for second round interviews. All other travel expenses will be borne by the candidate (if in person interviews).Terms and Conditions of Employment: Other terms and conditions of employment are specified in the applicable collective bargaining agreements on file in the District Human Resources Department. Position description of record on file in the Human Resources Department. *Sierra Community College District currently operates campuses in Rocklin, Truckee and Grass Valley. In its management of a multi-campus environment, the District reserves right of assignment including the right to change assignment locations and shift assignments based on District need. Although this position may currently reside at the Rocklin campus, the assignment location may be subject to change as needed. Additionally, the district reserves the right to cancel, revise or re-announce this position as well as any and all positions at any time.EEO/TITLE IX EMPLOYERSierra College is an equal employment opportunity employer committed to nondiscrimination and the achievement of diversity and equity among its faculty, staff, and students. Persons with inquiries about the application of Title IX and/or EEO may contact the Director of Diversity, EEO & Title IX (Title IX Coordinator) at the address below, at (916) 660-7006 or via email at EEOT9@sierracollege.edu.Persons with questions regarding reasonable accommodation of physical and other disabilities should contact the Sierra College Human Resources Department at (916) 660-7105. If you have limitations hearing or speaking, the State of California offers a specially-trained Communications Assistant (CA) that can relay telephone conversations for all of your calls. Dial 711 to reach the California Relay Service (CRS). Dialing 711 is for everyone, not just those who have difficulty hearing on a standard phone. If you prefer having your calls immediately answered in your mode of communication, dial one of the toll-free modality and language-specific numbers below. The call will be routed to the CRS provider. TTY/VCO/HCO to Voice English 1-800-735-2929 Spanish 1-800-855-3000 Voice to TTY/VCO/HCO English 1-800-735-2922 Spanish 1-800-855-3000 From or to Speech-to- Speech English & Spanish 1-800-854-7784
