California Institute of the Arts (www.calarts.edu) is a highly regarded, nationally ranked independent arts institute offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide range of areas. Located in Valencia, California, CalArts provides more than 70 comprehensive degree programs in the visual, performing, media and literary arts. Programs are optimized for a new kind of artist: one who goes beyond mere aesthetics and expertise and one who thinks about the way their practice engages with the world at large.
CalArts is seeking candidates for an experienced, dynamic, and forward-thinking Director of Financial Aid position. The successful candidate will join the enrollment management team as a senior leader under the direction of the Vice President of Enrollment Management, and partner closely with faculty and administrators across CalArts’ six world renowned Schools in Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater. With 4 additional staff, the Director oversees the administration of all student financial aid, including currently over $22 million of institutional scholarship funding and Student Employment. The Director provides training and leadership to the financial aid staff and works collaboratively within the enrollment division and across campus to support the successful recruitment and retention of undergraduate and graduate students.

The Director is responsible for the planning and implementation of communication strategies to improve student understanding of financial aid and the overall cost of attending CalArts. They will be responsible for ensuring the staff of the financial aid office provide reliable, detailed, high touch customer service to students, prospective students, and their families. To this end, the Director will develop streamlined internal processes to maximize the amount of staff time dedicated to counseling students and their families.

In addition to their work with the administrative offices within the Enrollment unit, the Director works extensively with the Deans, Program Directors, and Faculty Enrollment Liaisons within each school to facilitate the deliberate and timely distribution of school-based student aid funds, and to ensure institutional scholarship resources are allocated consistently and strategically in support of a diverse and talented student body.

The Director acts as the primary campus resource regarding best practices in needs analysis, strategic utilization of financial aid for enrollment and retention, and compliance with all federal and state regulations related to student financial aid. The Director will supervise the staff of the Financial Aid Office that will ensure such compliance. This work includes developing and maintaining institutional policies and procedures and providing education to the CalArts community about these policies and changing regulations.

The Institute seeks to support students’ relationship with their finances in a unified way. The Director will be asked to help lead the research for, and project the feasibility of, a unified “student financial services” model, including student aid and student accounts/bursary functions, to be housed under the Enrollment area. While this model is continues to develop, the proposal of such a model, testing the feasibility of it, and supporting the VP of Enrollment in building consensus and understanding for it should it be feasible, will be a key priority.

The ideal candidate will be detail oriented, well versed in the thoughtful application of technology, and a highly effective communicator with a primary focus on customer service and the student experience.

Responsibilities, Duties and Priorities:

Administration of Aid Programs

• Manage the financial aid review and awarding process for new and continuing students, including administration of institutional, state, and federal aid programs;
• Develop and administer departmental processes to ensure compliance in all aspects of federal and state awarding, including Title IV aid, state grants, federal work study; ensure that all federal and state funds are properly allocated, disbursed and reconciled in adherence to federal and state regulatory requirements;
• Manage annual setup of Colleague financial aid module; monitor performance of Colleague throughout the year and collaborate with IT as needed to ensure all updates are tested and installed in a timely manner;
• Maintain comprehensive and current understanding of federal and institutional needs analysis and packaging best practices, and provide training to staff in review of student aid eligibility and packaging of aid funds;
• Serve as the compliance officer for the financial aid office, including managing audits, researching compliance-related questions, and ensuring adherence with federal and state financial aid compliance requirements; ensure timely submission of annual FISAP and all other federal and state reporting, and supervise SAP review and processing;
• As needed, act as a backup for other financial aid staff in verification, needs analysis, awards packaging, and student counseling;
• Manage the financial aid appeals process for new and continuing students