Job Information
Boston College Associate Director, Student Financial Systems in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Boston College Introduction
Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.
Job Description
The Associate Director of Student Financial Systems will report to the Director of Student Services Information Systems and oversee all aspects of the implementation, planning, operation, support, and maintenance of the Student Accounts, Institutional Awards and Financial Aid systems/applications and data. This position is part of the Office of Student Services. This position is the product manager for all student financial systems at Boston College.
Areas of accountability and responsibility include maintenance and support of legacy systems implementation of new systems and/or modules; the creation, analysis, documentation, and maintenance of systems; report and programming development and maintenance; system problem resolution; managing daily production schedule of system jobs and workflow, and any other problems, issues or support needed for the systems. The Associate Director interacts with a diverse set of individuals and groups including administrators, systems users, staff, and students within Boston College. This position will also work with vendors and third-party software representatives when necessary.
The Associate Director will work collaboratively with Information Technology, various departments and Student Services staff in order to be effective in their role. They will manage business analysts. The Associate Director will be responsible for all the Student Financials systems within and/or integrated with Boston College student information system. This will include implementation, testing, documenting, training, reporting, maintenance, and troubleshooting. The Associate Director must have knowledge of financial aid rules and regulations. They will need to understand how these modules interact with other systems at Boston College and be able to test accordingly.
The Associate Director must also be willing to provide support to other areas within the Student Services & Admissions systems team as directed by the Director of Student Services Information Systems during critical times.
They are responsible for specific billing/sfs integrations across campus including Housing, Parking, Dining, Library and oversee the massive payment and billing system through Nelnet.
The Associate Director will be responsible for the Boston College financial aid systems (ProSam and Institutional Awards) and the Student Accounts module within Eagle Apps, the Boston College student information system. This will include implementation, testing, documenting, training, reporting, maintenance, and troubleshooting. The Director must have knowledge of financial aid rules and regulations. S/he will need to understand how the Financial Aid systems & Student Account Eagle Apps modules interact with other systems at Boston College and be able to test accordingly.
Plans and administers all financial aid management and student account systems, which includes coordinating the development, implementation and maintenance of the systems.
Creates, analyzes, documents and maintains programs, including report and programming development, testing and problem resolution. Creates detailed testing plans to cover all scenarios and tests accordingly.
Manages the implementation and maintenance of ProSam, Institutional Awards (IA), and the Student Accounts module in Eagle Apps. Manages problem solving efforts in cooperation with Information Technology Services and system managers. Troubleshoots and resolves system and procedural problems.
Functions as data custodian and oversees user access to financial aid and student account systems. Implements data protection and access controls established by institutional policy. Develops a system of quality control to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations and to minimize financial liability.
Develops and coordinates the on-going set-up and enhancements to maintain and improve the system to meet regulatory and industry standards. Manages the implementation of testing of ProSam, IA, and Student Accounts systems, including upgrades to existing systems and the implementation of new products. Manages programming needs and develops and maintains master production/system calendar to ensure deadlines are met.
Supports the Director of Financial Aid and his/her staff on the financial aid batch processing, letter generation and awarding of student financial aid. Reviews and updates financial aid systems in order to meet continually changing federal, state and institutional requirements, maintain quality programs and service, and maximize efficiency of the delivery of student financial aid. Creates and maintains the system and content of letters produced to communicate with students and prospective students.
Creates training materials and holds training sessions for new system implementations, new employees and changes resulting from system upgrades.
Supports other Directors and staff that report to the Executive Director of Student Services & Admissions Systems during peak and/or critical times.
Trains, supervises and evaluates the performance of the Business Analysts
Performs other related duties as assigned.
Additionally, this individual will work with the SSIS Director to prioritize projects, set budgets and determine realistic timeframes for system upgrades, fixes and enhancements. Will set the priorities of the Financial Services team and will allocate or solicit resources to/from other teams as needed.
The Financial Aid and Student Account systems are among the most federally regulated and audited systems at the University. Daily compliance with all Federal, State and University regulations are critical. These are ever changing and changes are often complicated and difficult to test and implement.
These systems are also highly integrated so changes to one system often require analysis and changes to the other. Proposed changes need to be fully vetted to ensure all downstream ramifications have been identified and addressed.
The majority of our billing, payment and refund processes are integrated with a third party vendor, Nelnet. Ensuring that accurate data is flowing between these systems and that the billing and payment systems are reliable and accurate is critical to the daily operation of the office. Annual evaluation of vendor performance is essential.
Working knowledge of student financial management systems required
Working knowledge of the PeopleSoft Accounting System required
Working knowledge of the Common Application and Disbursement (COD) system
Knowledge of Federal and State financial aid programs and supporting regulations
Skilled in training, writing documentation and procedures, analyzing workflow and policies and procedures
Ability to interpret and explain complex regulations and policies to a diverse audience
Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
Functional experience in student accounts or financial aid required
Experience managing large projects or working on student service system implementations
Excellent time management and organizational skills
Full-Time Equivalent Hiring Range: $100,950 to $126,200; salary commensurate with relevant experience.
Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree required.
5-7 years of experience working in Student Accounts and/or Financial Aid as well as experience working on student services and/or admission system implementations.
Closing Statement
Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:
Tuition remission for Employees
Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
Low-Cost Life Insurance
Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
Paid Holidays Annually
Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook
Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.
Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .
Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .