Using my communication skills, I provide excellent customer service to families and students navigating the difficult landscape of paying for college tuition today. This involves, among other things, deciphering college tuition bills, understanding all funding sources (public and private) and using other tools such as monthly payment plans.I also coordinate the Perkins Loan program, from receiving the student advances from the Financial Aid Office, to notifying students when their repayment is due. Unfortunately, this also includes collecting on past due and defaulted loans. Using the resources available to me, I assist these borrowers in rehabilitating their loans and getting back on track.I am responsible for the third party billing as well. I coordinate with sponsors and stakeholders for 529 savings plan, scholarship companies, and foreign government embassies to properly bill student tuition costs so they are covered appropriately.The busy Student Accounts Office requires providing service to students and families who walk in for service. In fact, there are many situations which are “all hands on deck.” For me, these interactions are often the most enjoyable times in this office.I was responsible for hiring two Student Accounts Counselor and training them.

As an Emerson College alumna, it was a great pleasure for me to see this position become open at Emerson College as it was a similar position I had at Lesley University. It has been a joy to be working at Emerson College. Once again, my past experience and communication skills made the perfect fit for this job.I came on board with the Student Accounts Office with a portfolio of responsibilities for the Perkins Loan program, third party bill for student tuition, and providing excellent customer service to students and families.

I am teaching belly dance to a variety of ages in the Arlington community. I value the opportunity to teach belly dance in a public school setting such as this because I am able to reach people who might not otherwise know about belly dance. I also find these classes fulfilling as many times, this is the first dance class ever taken. It can be challenging to teach beginners and this is precisely why it is so fulfilling.

The Goddess Dancing was an all women's belly dance troupe who taught and performed belly dance. We gave regular belly dance classes in Cambidge, MA. We also taught belly dance lessons at Boston University and taught workshops both independently sponsored by others. We created dances for our own dance shows as well as others. We taught and certified other belly dance teachers.We also promoted and performed Goddess Parties thoughout New England. Goddess Parties are in home dance parties where the dancer performs and then teachs a short class. Then the attendees enojoy a free style dance party. I am still booked for dance parties.We created and sold an instuctional DVD called The Sacred Shapes of Belly Dance.

While I was promoted to the Assistant Director of Student Accounts at Lesley University, the Student Accounts and Financial Aid Offices combined their Customer Care teams. This required cross training the Student Accounts and Financial Aid Offices and overseeing the implementation of this reorganziation.I worked with the Collections Counselor to help determine students who should go to an outside collection agency and who should not. Responsible for ensuring the resolution of student emails calls that needed immediate attention. Research and correct misapplied payments. Report on weekly cash receipts and university deposits. Supervised four and then six Student Accounts Counselors, including work schedules for employees interfacing with students on a daily basis.

I was responsible for adimistering the Federal Perkins Loan repayment process. I worked with out their party vender ECSI (now Heartland/ECSI) to create exit interviews, updated their SAL-NET and SALWeb databases. I was able to reduce the Lesely University default rate by 0.5%As the collections counselor, I negotiated with students, parents, lawyers and collection agencies to settle University debts. The ablity to listen deeply in order to uncover the real issue that people are having. Sometimes this is a loss of a job or the incompletion of a financail aid step while they were in school. While these can be difficult cases, using my communication skills I was able to resolve cases to the satification of the Univesty and the debtor. I maintained my up to date knowlege of collection law by yearly attending workshops.I very much enjoyed the part of my position which required me to train and mentor new Student Accounts Counselors.

Using my communicaiotn skills, I provided customer service via phone, email, and in person to students, family members, and potential students regarding tuition and fees, due dates, financial aid procedures, and payment methods.I prepared accounts in arrears for outside collections. I called and emailed students regaring their past due account. I also skip traced student using the internet and University records .I negotiated with students and parents for in house payment plans.I was responsible for processing checks, cash, credit and debit card payments. I had to reconcile cashiering sessions daily.

I was happy to return to my Alma Mater on a temporary baisis to provide administrative support to the Director of Leadership and Annual Giving. I called previous donors and non-donors, drafted and edited stewardship and solicitation letters. I wrote updates for the e-newsletter, and updated Millennium database. I was given the opportunity to help the Institutional Development Office convert from Millennium to the Banner database system.

I coordinated all logistical aspects of the Project Zero Summer Institute , a week long professional development program for between 272 and 350 educators from around the world. I was responsible for managing a faculty of over 60 people, including Harvard faculty members, Harvard researchers, and outside faculty of professional educators by producing contracts, providing travel arrangements, purchasing supplies, and coordinating books, media, copying and other logistical needsI worked with the IT department at Harvard University to develope a FileMaker Pro database which streamlined the preparation process for the Project Zero Summer Institute and reduced amount of overtime needed to prepare for the program.

I assisted the University Development Office Major Gift Officer. I maintained and tracked contact with donors and members of the Technology in Education Committee. This included making travel arrangements, transcribing, editing, and disseminating the committee meeting minutes.I planned and managed a variety of fundraising events.

When I left the State House, it was to work for one of my campaign's biggest donors who owned a CD-ROM company. CD-ROMs were the big, new technology at the time. Two years after I joined the company, it was sold and the new owner noted that I was one of the reasons he purchased the company. He recognized that my communication skills would be an asset to this tech company. For example, I was able to help the technical staff implement usability improvements based on my contact with customers. I served as the General Manager and Editor in Chief.As Editor in Chief, I was responsible for curating text content, wrote, acted in, and produced video segments for our business education series.As General Manger, I was the technical support help desk for the company. I created the first iteration of the company web site for customer support, vender, and direct to consumer sales.I hired, supervised, and fired technical, sales, shipping, and administrative staff.I managed payroll, budgets, and processed payments and orders for retail and wholesale customers.

I was the Legislative Aide to State Representative Peter Vellucci from November of 1988 until January or 1993, after he retired and I ran for his office. I did not win that race and returned to the State House the next year as the Legislative Aide to State Senator Dan Leahey until October of 1994.As the Legislative aid, I assisted constituents in navigating the state bureaucracy.I reviewed issues and compsoed White Papers and constituent issue letters.I worked with many different offices within the State Sentate and the State House of Representatives to reseach and write legislation. This included the Ways and Means Committee and the Bills in the Third Reading Commttee in the House and the Senate.I was the primary speech writer for both the State Senator and the State Representative.

After working for the Respresentive from Cambridge and Somerville for four years, my boss retired. I decided to run for his seat. As there were no Republicans in the race, this particular election was decided in the Democratic primary. I ran against a sitting Cambridge City Councilor. I lost by 500 votes. My campagin raised $25,000.00 and did not have a debt at the end.