Description

Departmental Overview

The Financial Aid and Scholarships Office (FASO) directly awards or coordinates the awarding of over $1 billion from over 700 funding sources to over 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

The mission of the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office is to provide students access to an excellent education. Through strategic partnerships and rigorous planning, FASO offers innovative aid programs to make higher education affordable, helps students and parents navigate financial aid processes, counsels students so they understand their options and feel empowered to make the best choices to manage their financial lives, advocates on behalf of students, teaches students about financial literacy, collaborates to help build upon a comprehensive, holistic culture of care that transforms the student experience and helps us recruit, retain, and graduate students and prepare them for success in life, and fosters a sense of community by encouraging alumni and donors to connect with the university and give the gift of access to the next generation of students.

Responsibilities

Program Administration:

• As a member of a team, administer and manage the Federal & State Aid Application process, Ability To Benefit, Financial Aid History, Unusual Enrollment History, and Verification Rejects, including handling tasks such as repackaging aid, communications, and system modifications.
• Serve as a functional expert and department liaison on Federal and State program compliance issues, collaborating with various units including Counseling staff, Fiscal Management staff, Senior Staff, Communications Manager, IT staff, and other campus partners as it relates to the assigned Federal and State programs.
• Manage the daily Federal & State Financial Aid import & export program processes as it relates to ISIR/CALISIR processing.
  As Primary Destination Point Administrator (DPA), coordinates access for relevant campus staff to Federal Systems such as NSLDS, COD, CPS, FSA Partner Connect, and FISAP.

Collaboration:

• Communicate effectively with individual contributors within FASO, maintaining collegial relationships to ensure efficient program administration.
• Keep FASO management and staff informed through regular updates via email or other common communications venues about upcoming deadlines, procedural changes, or periodic issues.
• Implement database elements, programming, or procedural changes needed to monitor complex programs and prevent errors.
• Serve as an expert resource on assigned programs and related regulations and policies.
• Provides secondary program support coverage as needed for other Federal and State Programs unit staff members.

Data Reconciliation and Analysis:

• Participate in annual testing of new aid year loading and exporting processes. Analyzes exception reports of students whose aid packages could not be handled by automated programming and determines action needed to resolve issues and complete students' aid awarding. Identify issues, articulate FASO tickets and work with Business Analysts and IT staff to resolve and test fixes.
• Respond to inquiries related to ISIR/CALISIR. Provides back-up coverage as needed for other Federal and State Programs Unit staff members.
• Analyze a variety of factors (financial data, family circumstances, social background, academic status, education goals, and applies knowledge of federal, state, University, and outside agency rules, regulations, and policies to determine student's eligibility for various types of financial aid, particularly administration and management of Federal & CA State Aid Application, ISIR/CALISIR rejects, cyclical aid application comment code review, Ability to Benefit, Unusual Enrollment History, Financial Aid History-Transfer Monitoring and assigned special projects.
• Reconcile complex student data from multiple sources, identifying and resolving mismatches and errors from external and internal sources.
• Performs needs analysis, assesses eligibility, and exercises professional judgment to determine the allocation of aid awards under complex, specialized regulations or for escalated cases.
• Analyze and resolve data inconsistencies between institutional, state, and federal systems, including daily processing of edit and reject reports.
• Serve as a resource to internal/external partners, analyzing reports to resolve aid application discrepancies.

Communication and Outreach:

• Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, including counselors managing special programs, Fiscal Management staff, Senior Staff, Communications Manager, IT staff, and other campus partners.
• Assess the need for and compose courteous and informative communications about FAFSA/CADAA, Verification V4-V5, ATB, and UEH processes for subpopulations of students and families.
• Design and conduct group training/updates on programs in the portfolio as needed.
• Keep FASO's public and staff websites current and accurate regarding the Financial Aid Application, FAFSA & CADAA.
   

Salary & Benefits

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

The budgeted salary range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $66,700-$104,050. We expect that the successful candidate will be offered a salary between $66,700-$91,600. 

• This is a 100%, full-time (40 hours per week), career position that is eligible for full UC benefits.
• This position is exempt and paid monthly.
• This is a remote-friendly position, with 50-100% remote options.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter for position: Financial Aid Counselor (4527U), Financial Aid Office - #74814.

Conviction History Background

This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Mandated Reporter

This position has been identified as a Mandated Reporter required to report the observed or suspected abuse or neglect of children, dependent adults, or elders to designated law enforcement or social service agencies. We reserve the right to make employment contingent upon completion of signed statements acknowledging the responsibilities of a Mandated Reporter.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant, please see the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission poster.

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, please see the University of California Discrimination, Harassment, and Affirmative Action in the Workplace policy.

Misconduct Disclosure
As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

“Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC’s policies addressing some forms of misconduct:

UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Working knowledge of policies, regulations, and practices for processing Federal & State Aid applications, ISIR/CALISIR edit reports, and awarding financial aid within a higher education setting.
• Experience working in the administration/management,of Federal & State Aid Applications (FAFSA & CADAA), Federal Title IV, and State student aid programs or other major federal or state funding programs.
• Ability to interpret and present complex policies and develop business process procedures to ensure compliance with State and Federal regulations.
• Knowledge of, or ability to learn to use quickly, information management systems related to registration, financial aid, and student accounts.
• Problem identification, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, judgment, and decision- making ability.
• Ability to assess and refine current processes and implement improvements.
• Organizational skills and ability to prioritize work and meet deadlines.
• Ability to gain working knowledge of University policies, processes, and procedures related to student registration, aid awards and payments.
• Working knowledge of advising and counseling techniques.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrated by effective, concise, courteous, accurate, grammatically correct, professional, diplomatic, and complete verbal and written interactions.
• Strong interpersonal skills, which includes active listening, diplomacy, social perceptiveness and the ability to recognize and diffuse charged interactions with customers and colleagues, and to develop effective working relationships with all colleagues. Ability to relate to diverse staff, student, and parent populations.
• Proficiency with standard office software, Microsoft Word, Excel, Access as well as Internet and email applications.
• Proficiency in manipulating and analyzing large volumes of data. Ability to calculate and reconcile financial aid with attention to detail and accuracy.
  
  

Education/Training

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using PeopleSoft for registration, financial aid, student financials, and human resources.
• Knowledge of common University-specific computer application programs.
• Knowledge of federal and state database applications, including Common Origination and Disbursement (COD), National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), Edconnect and GDSM (Grand Delivery System Management for State Grant and Scholarship programs).
• Project management skills.Ability to assess processes and implement improvements.