ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / FINANCIAL AID
for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule). So we can have About the role (summary), Responsibilities, Requirements (maybe combine Required and Preferred?), Qualifications (maybe separate?), Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We must not create sections with filler. So we need to see if we have content for each. - About the role: we have Position Summary and maybe About The Department? The About the role could be the Position Summary plus maybe division/department. We'll include Position Summary as About the role. - Responsibilities: Duties & Responsibilities. - Requirements: Required Qualifications. - Qualifications: Preferred Qualifications? Or maybe Skills: we could put preferred qualifications under Skills. But we have both Required and Preferred. The instruction list includes Requirements, Qualifications, Skills as possible headings. We can decide: Requirements = Required Qualifications. Qualifications = Preferred Qualifications. Skills maybe not needed if we don't have explicit skills list; but we have communication skills etc in Required Qualifications. Could put those under Requirements. We'll not create Skills if no distinct list. - Benefits: Not explicitly stated. There's mention of CMU employees enjoy access to a nationally recognized wellness program along with health care and benefits that exceed regional, state and national norms. That's a benefit statement. So we can include Benefits section with that. - Pay: Pay Range $44,000 - $55,000. - Schedule: Weekly Work Schedule: Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. / weekends and evenings as needed. Also Position Type: 12 month. Could include schedule. We must not include placeholders like "commensurate with experience". Not present. We must remove boilerplate: EEO, application instructions, etc. Also remove "Message To Applicants" (which includes application instructions and EEO). Remove "Open Until Filled: No", "Posting Ends: 10/06/2026", etc. Remove "Position Number: S-3984". Remove "Supervision Exercised Required Qualifications" weird formatting? Actually the text: "Supervision Exercised Required Qualifications". It seems like a heading but we need to treat as part of content? The posting shows: Supervision Exercised Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree... Probably it's a formatting error: "Supervision Exercised" then "Required Qualifications". We have Supervision Exercised: None. Then Required Qualifications. We'll capture Supervision Exercised: None (maybe not needed). We can ignore supervision if not needed. We need to preserve all substantive information. So we should include Supervision Exercised: None maybe as a short p under Requirements? But not required. Could include as a note under Requirements? Might be considered metadata. The instruction: do NOT put Job ID / requisition numbers as headings — fold minor metadata into a short
or drop it. So we can fold minor metadata like Supervision Exercised: None into a short p maybe under Requirements or at top. But we can also drop it if not substantive. It's minor. I'd drop it. Similarly, Employee Group, Pay Level, Division, Department, Position Status, Position End Date, Employment Status, FTE, Position Type, Weekly Work Schedule, Location, Posting Ends, Open Until Filled: these are metadata. Some we need for Pay, Schedule, Location maybe. Location could be included in About the role? Not required but could be included as a short p. The instruction: preserve ALL substantive information; do NOT invent or summarize away detail. So we should keep location, division, department, employment status, etc. But we need to decide where to put them. Could add a short p after About the role: "Location: Mount Pleasant, MI. Division: Student Recruitment & Retention. Department: Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid. Employment: Full‑Time, 12‑month position." That preserves info. Pay and Schedule we already have sections. Benefits we have. Now we need to output only HTML fragment, no /, no markdown. We'll produce something like:
About the role
The Assistant Director of Financial Aid serves as a key operational leader within the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA), supporting the effective delivery of and compliance with federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs. Under the direction of senior leadership, the Assistant Director ensures accurate application of policies and procedures across assigned aid programs, contributes to quality assurance efforts, and supports the day-to-day processing and communication of aid. This position plays a critical role in supporting student access, retention, and timely degree completion by ensuring operational efficiency and regulatory alignment.
Responsibilities
- Executes day-to-day functions of assigned financial aid programs (e.g., Federal Direct Loans, Federal Pell Grant, Michigan Achievement Scholarship, institutional scholarships), ensuring timely and compliant processing.
- Applies federal regulations to evaluate unusual circumstances, exercise professional judgment, and make decisions that impact aid eligibility.
- Processes appeals for the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy and other academic criteria to determine continued aid eligibility.
- Responds to student and parent inquiries by phone, email, social media and in person; provides clear guidance on aid options, requirements, and problem resolution with the expectation of the highest level of customer service.
- Assists with the maintenance of the OSFA website in partnership with University Communications to ensure up-to-date and accurate content.
- Processes the awarding of $1.5 million in endowed, departmental, and annual scholarships, ensuring eligibility criteria are met and awards do not exceed cost of attendance or unmet need per federal and university regulation and policy.
- Reviews and assists student eligibility for federal loans, ensuring adherence to grade-level progression, annual limits, and lifetime aggregate limits; counsels students on repayment options and resolves federal loan history issues.
- Collaborates with the Athletic Compliance Office to ensure student-athlete aid is awarded in compliance with NCAA, institutional, and federal regulations.
- Manages awarding processes and collaborative outreach for specialized graduate and professional programs, including Physical Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Physician Assistant, and Audiology.
- Supports compliance through documentation, review of internal processes, and proactive identification of potential issues.
- Reviews Department of Education Dear Colleague Letters, Federal Registers, Electronic Announcements, and policy updates as released to ensure they are following guidance and policy in their work.
- Provides internal and external financial aid presentations to prospective students, families, faculty, and partners; represents the office at campus and community outreach events.
- Contributes to training and procedural documentation efforts to promote consistent and compliant aid processing across assigned programs.
- Participates in professional development, conferences, and federal/state training to remain current on regulatory changes.
- Assists in compliance with federal and state regulations governing financial aid to prevent audit findings, institutional liability, and student harm.
- Supports accurate disbursement and processing of over $220 million in annual aid across federal, state, and institutional programs.
- Communicates high-stakes information to students and families clearly, empathetically, and accurately.
- May supervise or provide functional guidance to student employees as assigned.
- Acts as a subject matter expert and supports staff training, procedural development, and quality assurance.
Requirements
Bachelor's degree and one year of experience in financial aid counseling or in a higher education student service, or financial services related setting OR Associate's degree and four years of experience in financial aid counseling, in a higher education student services, or financial services related setting. Excellent written, verbal, and public speaking communication skills. Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and perform under pressure with high accuracy. Commitment to maintaining compliance, confidentiality and data integrity in accordance with FERPA, federal, state, and institutional aid policies.
Qualifications
- Demonstrated expertise in administering Title IV programs and interpreting federal and state regulations.
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills, especially in applying professional judgment and reviewing aid eligibility.
- Experience with enterprise systems (e.g., Colleague, Banner, Regent, COD, NSLDS, FPP).
- NASFAA credentials or other professional certification in financial aid.
- Knowledge of Michigan financial aid programs.
- Experience developing and delivering training or policy guidance.
Benefits
CMU employees enjoy access to a nationally recognized wellness program along with health care and benefits that exceed regional, state and national norms.
Pay
Pay range: $44,000 - $55,000.
Schedule
Weekly work schedule: Monday‑Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., with occasional weekends and evenings as needed. This is a 12‑month, full‑time position (FTE 1.00).
We also need to include location, division, department maybe as a short p after About the role or within About the role. Let's add a short p after About the role: "Location: Mount Pleasant, MI. Division: Student Recruitment & Retention. Department: Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid. Employment: Full‑Time, 12‑month position." We must ensure we don't repeat job title. Not using any headings for Job ID etc. Check for any leftover boilerplate: we removed EEO, application instructions, etc. Also removed "Message To Applicants". Also removed "About The Department" content? We used some of that in location/division/department but not the full description about CMU. The instruction says preserve ALL substantive information. The About CMU description is substantive. Should we include it? It is under "About The Department About CMU:" which is a description of the university. That is substantive. We could include it under About the role or maybe a separate section "About the University". But the allowed headings list does not include About the University, but we could incorporate into About the role as additional paragraph. The instruction: "Pre