The Purpose

The Financial Aid Specialist is responsible for providing the Financial Aid Office with additional support in the areas of student interaction, verification, awarding, account reconciliation, and compliance. This person will also serve as the primary point of contact for students when entering the Financial Aid Office for assistance.

Why it’s Important

The Blue Ridge team is excited by every opportunity to be creative, innovative, and engaging. We do this by working alongside our Staff and Faculty to ensure we provide a modern, technologically advanced institution for the community. We are here to support our Students to ensure they reach their highest potential. Our team engages with the community to ensure that we are consistently meeting standards and then rising above them. Guiding students along their educational journey is our calling and we are looking for like-minded teammates to help us serve our community. Whether a student is entering the workforce for the first time, entering a new profession, or just expanding their knowledge, we are here to provide the necessary tools to accomplish all their goals. Working together, no elevation is too high, and no summit is unreachable.

What You'll be Doing

• Serve as the primary first point of contact for students coming into the Financial Aid Office for assistance with questions (i.e. FAFSA completion, scholarship application, verification, SAP, childcare grant, Federal Work Study, etc.)
• Assist the Financial Aid Coordinator in pre-awarding eligibility checks in Colleague and NSLDS.

• Assist the Financial Aid Director in the processing and review of scholarship applications in NextGen software.

• Assist in the maintenance and annual revisions of the Financial Aid Policies and Procedures Manual.

• Maintain filing and scanning/document imaging of student records (both active and inactive records).

• Maintain the RGER reports each term for students taking courses not in their program of study to ensure compliance.

• Maintain state grant balances and reconcile Colleague and CFI for each fund after each academic term.

• Assist with FAFSA Nights (hosted on and off-campus) as outreach events.

• Assist with Financial Aid classroom presentations.

• During peak processing times, assist the Financial Aid Technician with Verification.

• Responding to Financial Aid & Scholarships emails & telephone calls from faculty, staff, students, parents, and community members.

• Maintain accurate Financial Aid student records.

• Maintain the technical competencies necessary to the job function, attending professional development and training opportunities as necessary.

Additionally

• To perform other duties as may be assigned.

• Assist other Financial Aid Office Staff to resolve workflow issues and serve as backup during times of high volume and peak processing.

• Provide other clerical support for the Office as assigned.

Qualifications

Education

Associate Degree, Bachelor’s preferred

Skills and the Know-How

• Ellucian Colleague experience, preferred
• Microsoft Office Suite knowledge
• Strong personal and professional integrity
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work independently, as well as within a team environment with students, faculty, and staff in order to implement the mission and objective of Blue Ridge Community College
• Ability to multi-task to meet the demands of walk-in students and incoming calls

Physical Demands

Dexterity of hands.

Blue Ridge is an Equal Employment Opportunity Institution