This Financial Aid Counselor position serves as the primary counselor for scholarships which entails assisting in the maintenance of the scholarship software including quality control checks, updating of scholarship qualifications, reviewing and updating administrative roles, and access for campus partners. The duties also include creating and maintaining review groups for departmental review of applications and assisting with processing Scholarship Recipient Forms. This counselor also reviews and responds to departmental inquiries about student eligibility.

This counseling position also serves as the liaison with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, which entails processing athletic scholarships for student athletes and providing information regarding outside resources for student athletes. This position also processes scholarship reduction and non-renewal letters.

This counseling position also serves as the liaison with the Office of Contract and Grant Accounting. The counselor processes Grant Award Recipient Forms and responds to Principal Investigator questions regarding student eligibility.

The secondary responsibilities of this position is to serve as a Financial Aid Counselor to the public by developing expert knowledge of the federal, state, and institutional aid regulations and guidelines and administering financial aid knowledge to students and families to assist them in resolving the issues they encounter when navigating the complex financial aid process. Counselors must apply decision-making and discernment skills in order to resolve the multitude of issues that families encounter in the aid process. The counselors must be ready to adapt their style to the many different types of students they work with- new freshmen, transfers, graduate students, online students, parents, veterans, and other family members. The financial aid counselor encounters a wider variety of people, student types, and ages than any other office on campus. They may be working with a first-generation freshman one minute and then working with a graduate student on plus loans the next. They have to understand the needs of each type and the issues that each might encounter in order to properly service the student.

The counselors must be adept at communicating complex aid regulations in a manner that first-generation students and families can understand and navigate. They must be articulate and accurate in their communication but also display empathy because they may need to deliver bad news. The counselors will encounter students/families who are upset and are displaying their emotions through tears or anger. They will utilize counseling skills to de-escalate tense situations and determine how best to help the family.

Counselors are responsible for expert communication skills in multiple modes- email, phone, chat, in-person, and virtual. They need a thorough understanding of how to deliver instruction and information appropriately in each medium. They guide families through complex processes and have to approach their guidance differently based on the mode of communication.

Often in their communication with students, they have to conduct follow-up processing after their interaction. Counselors analyze information to ensure the FAFSA data is accurate. They process received financial aid documentation and then follow up with the student to confirm processing has been completed. Their interactions aren’t simply communicating information, but instead actively resolving issues by processing documentation and resolving issues in Banner and then following up with the student.

Counselors are also called upon to give parent night presentations at local high schools, deliver financial literacy presentations to FYE course sections, and participate in Admissions recruiting events explaining the aid process to new students and families.