Associate Director, Student Financial Services

A member of the Student Financial Services management team responsible for coordination of scheduling, customer service, and communication with internal and external stakeholders.Direct responsibility for hiring, onboarding, and supervision of customer-facing staff and student workers, ensure adequate documentation for major SFS processes, First Year Programs (orientation, new student materials), and oversight of office websites and digital marketing.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

Customer Service:

• Oversee department customer service team, including OS & PAT staff, and work study students.

• Coordinate with all supervisors to ensure satisfactory customer service experience through adequate coverage in-office, phone, and email variable with semester/annual trends.

• Maintain acceptable response time for customer inquiries.

• Explore new/improved customer outreach options such as chatbot, or other emerging technologies.

• Work with systems team for any new implementations/ upgrades, and ad hoc queries for mass marketing campaigns.

• Authority to determine final outcomes in elevated customer service inquiries in coordination with all relevant regulatory requirements.

• Ensure university policies and procedures are consistently applied to all students.

Supervisor of Customer Service Team:

• Oversee staff and work study students.

• Authority to hire vacant positions and manage any performance issues with customer service department staff.

• Coordinate new hire and continuing staff training opportunities to ensure thorough understanding of department functions and university policies.

• Develop and support cross-functional work teams to provide consistent application of office processes.

• Work as a team with other department leaders to ensure regulatory requirements are up to date in business processes, and policy.

• Strive for an inclusive, proactive work environment that promotes process improvement and customer-centered improvements.

• In conjunction with other supervisors, act in a decision-making capacity in the director.

Student Account Portfolio Management:

• Resolve complex financial problems for UNH students, parents and debtors, frequently involving highly sensitive and difficult situations; counsel families on how to meet financial obligations. This requires extensive knowledge of financial aid processes and options; ability to deem creditworthiness for potential delayed payment arrangements; negotiation and analysis skills.

• Provide pro-active communications prior to semester opening to help students resolve and avoid problems when they arrive on campus.

• Oversee all collection activities on inactive student accounts, and foster relationships with external collection agencies.

Department Management Team:

• Participate as active member of departmental management team which is responsible for long- and short-term planning, problem-solving, staffing, and projects.

• Work closely with the Director and other leaders to document strategic plans, and align department activities with university retention initiatives.

Exceptions to policy:

• Review and make decisions regarding exceptions to university policy.

• An active member of the Financial Exceptions to University Policy – research and review appeals, communicate decisions.

• Oversee late fee waiver process, including exceptions to policy.

• Oversee handling of customer requests for waiver of mandatory fees and late fees. Handle customer issues and complaints.

First Year Programs:

• Coordinate with department staff to prepare new student orientation materials, make schedule of staff attending new student events including admitted student visit days, freshman orientation, etc.

• Build connections with Admissions and First Year Program offices to support university retention initiatives

Internal and External Relationships:

• Establish and maintain close relations with other UNH departments – Registrar’s Office, Admissions, Housing, Dining, Community Standards, academic departments, exchange programs, Controller’s Office, etc.

• Also work to enhance relationships with outside vendors and agencies, such as Nelnet and Citizens Bank

Minimum Qualifications:

• At least five years’ experience in financial aid or student accounts administration with a demonstrated progression of managerial responsibility.

• Knowledge of federal and state regulations pertaining to higher education.

• Demonstrated ability to deal effectively with the public, University community and external constituencies.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills and decision-making ability.

• Demonstrated ability in leadership and organizational skills.

• Familiarity with on-line data processing systems and statistical software packages.

• Willingness to work irregular and flexible hours.

• At least 5 years of supervisory experience.

• Master’s degree in a related field (e.g. student affairs, business, counseling).

Applicant Instructions: 

Applicants should be prepared to upload the following documents when applying online within the My Experience: Resume/CV section of the application: (Maximum of 5 Documents)

• Resume/CV
• Cover Letter
• Contact Information for 3 Professional References

Applications that are missing any of the required items may not move forward for consideration. Additional uploaded documents not requested in the position announcement will not be reviewed.

The University of New Hampshire is an R1 Carnegie classification research institution providing comprehensive, high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs of distinction. UNH is located in Durham on a 188-acre campus, 60 miles north of Boston and 8 miles from the Atlantic coast and is convenient to New Hampshire’s lakes and mountains. There is a student enrollment of 13,000 students, with a full-time faculty of over 600, offering 90 undergraduate and more than 70 graduate programs. The University actively promotes a dynamic learning environment in which qualified individuals of differing perspectives, life experiences, and cultural backgrounds pursue academic goals with mutual respect and shared inquiry.

EEO Statement

The University System of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access employer. The University System is committed to creating an environment that values and supports diversity and inclusiveness across our campus communities and encourages applications from qualified individuals who will help us achieve this mission. The University System prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or marital status.

Compensation Pay Range:

$63,250.00 - $113,160.00

The pay range for this position is listed above. Actual offer will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity, in addition to relevant business considerations. More information on benefits can be found here: USNH Employee Benefits | Human Resources

Location:

Durham