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Job › Director of Scholarships
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Location:
- Denver, CO
- Salary:
- Compensation is based on education and experience.
- Date posted:
- Apr 19 2011
- Date expires:
- May 26 2011 (This job post already expired)
EMPLOYER
- Company:
-
American Indian College Fund
See all American Indian College Fund Jobs - Employer type:
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Purpose
Directs and disburses over $5 million in scholarship support to American Indian Students attending Tribal Colleges and Mainstream Universities.
Job Context
In order to fulfill a core mission of the American Indian College Fund the Director of Scholarships manages all aspects of both the special and general scholarship programs. The special scholarship program supports American Indian students at tribal colleges and universities and at mainstream institutions and often includes programmatic components. The general scholarship program works with over 30 tribal colleges and universities to provide scholarships to American Indian students at these institutions only. The Director of Scholarships will be responsible for providing training, direction, and evaluation for all members of the scholarship team. The primary aspects of scholarship program management include recruiting, managing the on-line application process, maintaining the scholarship database, ensuring that scholarships are properly awarded, creating accurate and timely scholarship reports, managing scholarship programmatic components, and tracking and providing student data to the organization.
Job Responsibilities
1. Manage the General Scholarship Program disbursements.
a. Ensure an appropriate timeline is created, communicated to Fund employees and Tribal College Universities (TCUs), and followed for both spring and fall disbursements.
b. Ensure that general scholarships are appropriately allocated to TCUs, factoring in all scholarship criteria.
c. Ensure that scholarship award amounts and criteria are accurately communicated to TCUs.
d. Ensure that the Fund proactively reviews general scholarship awards made by the TCUs and works with the TCUs to ensure that general scholarships are properly disbursed based on donor requirements.
2. Manage the Special Scholarship Program disbursements and all special scholarships’ program aspects.
a. Ensure an appropriate timeline is created, followed and communicated to Fund employees and TCUs.
b. Ensure that an unbiased special scholarship award selection process is created and implemented.
c. Ensure that special scholarships are completely and accurately disbursed to qualified students based on donor requirements.
d. Create and implement a procedure to follow-up with students in renewable scholarship programs to obtain updated application information to allow for retention in special scholarship programs.
e. Manage special scholarship budgets.
f. Ensure the proper implementation of all special scholarships’ programmatic components (i.e. webinars, award ceremonies, corporate visits, etc.).
g. Collaborates with the Resource Development Teams to create reasonable and realistic program components of special scholarships in an effort to fulfill donors’ intentions.
3. Ensure there is an adequate pool of American Indian students to disburse all available scholarship funds timely.
a. Create and implement an annual travel plan for recruiting, including TCU visits, high school visits, and conferences.
b. Create a listing of all special scholarships available, including their criteria, and ensure that these scholarships are appropriately, adequately, and specifically recruited for.
c. Develop relationships with financial aid representatives at TCUs and targeted mainstream institutions to enlist them as advocates that assist in finding qualified students and assisting students in completing the on-line scholarship applications.
d. Ensure that on-line application process is meeting both the students’ and the Funds’ needs.
e. Promote the Fund as a primary source for scholarships to American Indian students, through strategic alliances with national and community organizations.
f. Create and implement a marketing plan to promote all Fund scholarships (webinars, auto-dial phone calls, text messaging, e-mails, posters, newspaper advertisements, advertising in various college publications, etc).
g. Create and implement a process that promotes the completion of the on-line scholarship applications by individual students.
4. Manage scholarship data reporting.
a. Ensure the timely and accurate collection of general scholarship data from TCUs.
b. Ensure timely and accurate reporting of general scholarships to resource development teams.
c. Ensure timely and accurate reporting of special scholarships to resource development teams.
d. Facilitates providing requested scholarship applicant demographic information to appropriate Fund employees (i.e. information used to develop resource development cases for support and collateral materials).
e. Facilitate providing requested scholarship awardee information to appropriate Fund employees (i.e. information for board books, annual reports, direct mail, and combined federated campaign applications).
f. Create and implement a process to track and report on scholarship recipient graduation rates.
g. Facilitate providing scholarship recipient alumni success stories.
h. Ensure that all scholarship disbursements are in scholarship database.
i. Ensure that scholarship database is being effectively and efficiently utilized for reporting purposes.
5. Creates and manages scholarship department budget and team.
a. Creates and manages scholarship department budget to meet scholarship department objectives.
b. Hire, train, mentor, manage, and evaluate scholarship team employees.
Job Requirements
Competencies
• Knowledge of Bureau of Indian Affairs financial aid awarding procedures and Federal Student Financial Aid processes
• Experience with diverse cultures
• Knowledgeable about computer systems and software, particularly Microsoft Office products and scholarship database systems
• Effective skill in written and oral communications
• Strong organizational skills, with ability to handle multiple tasks and meet deadlines
• Ability to take initiative to solve challenges, and to work with organizational teams to support fundraising efforts
• Strong customer service
• Demonstrated employee management, mentoring, and evaluation skills
• Proactive leadership skills
• Familiarity with fundraising practices
Education / Experience / Certification Requirements
Bachelor’s degree.
2 years experience working within the financial aid aspects of higher education. Supervisory experience.
Preferred Qualifications: Experience working with tribal colleges and/or American Indian students..
Problem Solving
Makes decisions independently; devises unique and qualified solutions to complex problems requiring innovation and creativity.
Interpersonal Contacts
The Director of Scholarships has daily interaction with the scholarship team employees, resource development teams, public education employees, accounting employees, student scholars, and tribal college & university and mainstream institution staff and administrators. The Director of Scholarships provides information to the public in person, over the phone, via email or U.S. Mail on a daily basis. This individual also serves as a representative for the Fund nationally in the Indian Community, amongst donors and donor prospects, and professional student aid associations.
Consequences of Error
Large Monetary Impact. Potential errors create costs that cannot be mitigated. This includes loss of donor relationships, fines, and other expenses that cannot be recouped directly. Errors would typically create a cost of over $50,000.
Responsibility for Work of Others
The Director of Scholarships supervises the scholarship team. This individual also provides direction, influence and support for the outside consultant that maintains and hosts the scholarship database.
Direction Received
Minimal supervision. Consults supervisor concerning unusual problems.
Essential Physical Requirements
Must be able to lift 30 pounds (Recruitment Materials, Banners and Archiving scholarship files upstairs). Availability to travel frequently during peak seasons. Travel occasionally extends over a weekend. Must be able to travel to rural areas alone where there may be limited or sporadic cell service. Must be willing to use public transportation when on travel.
Please email a letter of interest, report writing sample (maximum of three to four pages), salary requirements and résumé to: applications@collegefund.org
American Indian College Fund
Human Resources Department
8333 Greenwood Boulevard
Denver, CO 80221
Fax: 303-426-1200
www.collegefund.org