The Financial Aid Director plans, organizes, directs, develops, implements, and maintains a comprehensive student financial assistance program and delivery system that is highly automated and is responsive to student, institutional, governmental, and private funding source needs and requirements. The student aid programs must be administered in compliance with applicable federal and state statutes and regulations as well as meet the needs of the clientele served by creating and maintaining a strong customer service model. Participation as a member of the Strategic Enrollment Management Team in developing and attaining recruitment and retention goals and strategies is also a primary responsibility.

Currently teaching IDS 1107 - Strategies for the Pursuit of Knowledge.Drawing on the foundation of metacognition strategies, critical thinking skills and information literacy, this course teaches persistence and high achievement skills to prepare students for success in college, career and life. This course provides a deep knowledge of the Florida State College at Jacksonville A.A. general education degree experience by exploring fields of study and how courses from different disciplines interact and form the experience for a liberal arts degree. Also included in this course are co-curricular enrichment activities from Advising, Student Engagement and the Library and Learning Commons.

As the Assistant Director over Scholarships I was responsible for the management of over $4 million in scholarships. I provided leadership, guidance, and direction for institutional, foundation, athletic, and private donor funds to ensure scholarships were awarded effectively. I also supervised a staff of three who help manage the day-to-day operations. I contributed to the development of an effective scholarship program by serving as a Chair to the Institutional Scholarship Committee and presenting data, analysis, and recommendations to enhance scholarship awarding to maximize enrollment objectives and improve College processes. This included a Six Sigma review of the Foundation spending, which lead to the institution switching to a new scholarship portal- ScholarshipUniverse. I was leading the team on portal construction, and the reimaging of the scholarship application to lift barriers for enhanced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive awarding. Additionally, I created a Scholarship Manual to document all policies and procedures for business continuity in the future. Ensuring the effective use of Foundation scholarship dollars I coordinated with the Development Office in the dissemination of relevant information regarding scholarship applicants and awarding processes. In 2022, I awarded over $1.12 million in Foundation scholarships. This is an 18% increase from 2021. I also awarded 95% of the 164 available scholarships to at least 1 student, with 84% of them being 100% awarded. Furthermore, I managed the athletic scholarships and keep up to date on all Florida State College Activities Association (FSCAA) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) regulation changes. I liaison with the Vice President of Student Services, Campus and Program Deans, Foundation Executives, Donors, campus faculty and staff, as well as students, regarding scholarship awarding and opportunities to facilitate enrollment and retention.

As an Assistant Director in the Processing area, I served as a member of the management team with responsibility and oversight of staff in the areas of Return of Title IV funds and Federal Direct Pell Grant. I trained, distributed tasks, managed the flow of day-to-day operations, determined timelines and monitored progress of various projects, and helped the team develop strategies to reach a project's goal. On a weekly basis, I ran reports for the completion of all R2T4s required. Additionally, with the new COVID regulations, I completed all COVID reporting in COD of students whose withdrawals were COVID related. I also developed, wrote, and implemented all R2T4 policies and procedures due to the national emergency and Department of Education regulatory changes. Further more, I trained staff on how to process and report R2T4s as a result of a large R2T4 project that required many hands. To help with this, I created a step-by-step guide on how to complete an R2T4 and where each piece of information is housed in PeopleSoft. I was also responsible for the distribution and reconciliation of the Federal Pell Grant program– over $40 million a year. On a weekly basis I queried reports to review students with outstanding Pell LEUs, non-disbursed item types, authorization failures, and reconciliation files. I processed and reported all Pell funds to the Department of Education through COD. This also included review of student courses outside their program of study to reduce appropriate aid types. Furthermore, I worked with the Business office to return any refunds not cashed by students. I collaborated with faculty, staff, and administrators to develop strategies to help and resolve student escalated situations, in addition to advising and counseling students and parents regarding the financial aid process.

Reporting to the Assistant Director of Financial Aid, Veteran Services, and Systems, I managed the Continuing Education Programs that were eligible for Title IV funds. This included verifying enrollment in the required modules and confirming passing grades so as to continue their financial aid eligibility. Meanwhile, I also coordinated with the Continuing Education Office's scholarship opportunities- posting them in Banner and running disbursements for the Continuing Education terms. In addition to my responsibilities with Continuing Education, I managed the financial aid Banner Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculations module and developed solutions for users (Banner testing). Additionally, I oversaw the administration of awarding, disbursing, and reconciliation of federal funds associated with R2T4’s. This includes the evaluation of withdrawn students in determining R2T4 calculation as well as logging and tracking all R2T4 calculations in a spreadsheet.Furthermore, I monitored federal satisfactory academic progress regulations and evaluated student appeals in accordance with federal, state, and institutional regulations and policies. I counseled students and determined appropriate types of aid to be awarded. Along with this, I resolved financial aid over-awards and monitored tuition adjustments to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state regulations. Apart from this, I assisted with the overall administration of the office, preparation of fiscal accountability reports and records, and provided technical guidance to staff regarding federal and state regulations and institutional policies.

Reporting to the Director of Financial Aid, I was responsible for the management and daily oversight of the Financial Aid Office’s student workers, which included adequate training and knowledge about office policies and procedures. I also advised current, and prospective students, regarding the availability of aid, application procedures, institutional policies, federal and state regulations, the process of needs analysis and necessary documentation, and the availability of student employment. Additionally, I reviewed applications for financial aid, analyzing financial situations and needs, determining appropriate packaging of aid, as well as, adjusting packages to meet changes in student eligibility.Additionally, I provided comprehensive oversight and management of the Federal Work Study program, including, monitoring expenditures, development and maintenance of budgets and financial reconciliation, community service fund reconciliation, databases, and other record-keeping systems. I worked in partnership with Human Resources as well as the career services office LAUNCHPad to verify compliance with the programs regulations.Furthermore, I handled all procurement purchasing for the office, helping to allocate funds appropriately within the budget. Using my expert knowledge of financial aid regulations, I revamped the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy, the office Policies and Procedures Manual, as well as some of the processing within the office.

I managed all internal quality assurance reviews, specifically looking at all Dept. of Ed verification elements. I trained staff on how to conduct reviews as well as the process after Counselors received their feedback from our unit. Working in conjunction with the IT unit, I ran daily Direct Loan and Pell Grant origination files, import and export files to COD using EdConnect, handling any loan or grant rejections. Furthermore, I managed the reconciliation of $46 million in Direct Loans and $14 million in Pell Grants. As the first point of contact for the Client Services Unit, I managed any origination or disbursement issues. Additionally, I was the contact for other institutions in regards to student conflicts concerning federal aid programs.On a weekly basis, I calculated all Return of Title IV funds using FAA and PeopleSoft. I participated incollaborative efforts with other offices to reconcile Direct Loan, Pell Grant, SEOG, and TEACHfunding. My expertise in federal and state regulations allowed me to implement new and updatedDepartment of Education policies and procedures within the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.Sitting on the Satisfactory Academic Progress committee, I helped adjudicated student appeals usingsolid analytical skills as well as developed and implemented all SAP policies and procedures. I was alsoinvolved in the office communications committee, generating effective communication strategies forspecific student populations. Furthermore, I worked with our campus IT department to transition all office forms into functional PDF eForms.Additionally, I was the Chair of the Enrollment Management Staff Development Committee for 3years. I oversaw 8 professional staff across 5 units within Enrollment Management and handled allmarketing for these events. I conferred regularly with the Vice Provost of Enrollment Management to identify, plan, and implement professional development and team building opportunities for 75 staff members.

Reporting to the Assistant Direct, Client Services, I managed twenty percent of the student financialaid accounts. On a daily basis I counseled both students and parents, using solid analytical skills, ontheir financial aid award packages as well as other types of financial aid. In addition to my counselingduties, I completed all types of verification reports including Review of Loan Limits, Verificationgroups one through six, Review of Pell Grant Limits, Unusual Enrollment History, and more.I was also assigned to handle all out of state programs to include DC Tag, Gates-Millennium,Delaware Higher Education, Rhode Island Higher Education, and the Gilman Scholarship. I ensuredthat all students were eligible for the awards, processed fund requests, and reported requiredinformation in each database.Using EdConnect, I sent and received all ISIR files on a daily basis, as well as managed all ISIRcorrections and suspended ISIRs in PeopleSoft. As member of the Professional Judgement CommitteeI adjudicated student appeals due to personal mitigating circumstances. Throughout the year I wasresponsible for the review of Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeals. This included the committeereview process where I worked with the Office of Pre-Professional and Academic Advising to makeeducated decisions on a case by case basis.Part of my other duties as a Financial Aid Counselor was to collaborate effectively with Universitydepartments to actively support student recruitment and retention through presentations regardingfinancial aid to various on– and off-campus groups.