Financial Counselor for TRIO Student Support Services

Financial Counselor for TRIO Student Support Services

About Susquehanna:
As a living, learning and working community, Susquehanna University affirms its commitment to being an engaged, culturally inclusive campus. As we seek to embody the rich diversity of the human community, we commit ourselves to the full participation of persons who represent the breadth of human difference. The university encourages candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply. Susquehanna University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Susquehanna University is a national liberal arts college committed to excellence in educating students for productive, creative and reflective lives of achievement, leadership and service in a diverse, dynamic and interdependent world. Its more than 2,300 undergraduates come from 35 states and 22 countries, and all students study away through Susquehanna’s unique Global Opportunities program. Susquehanna University’s 325 acre campus, noted for its beauty, is located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 50 miles north of Harrisburg in the scenic Susquehanna River Valley, about a three hour drive from Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City. For more information, please visit https://www.susqu.edu.


Position Summary:
Job Summary
The Financial Counselor will support the financial health and academic success of approximately 160 students enrolled in the TRIO Student Support Services program. This person will proactively engage students and families in financial counseling during the recruitment and retention of TRIO scholar. This person will develop and provide financial education workshops, assist students in searching and applying for financial support for both undergraduate and graduate education, and develop and implement other events designed to promote financial literacy and healthy financial behaviors. The Financial Counselor will work in collaboration with the Office of Financial Services to increase the FAFSA completion rates, assess students' understanding of personal finances, and develop new and creative strategies to meet the needs of low-income student populations. This person will collaborate with the Office of Student Financial Services and/or the Office of Student Life to support any student who encounters financial or social issues and support the Director of TRIO Student Support Services as needed. This position may need to work some nights and weekends to accommodate student schedules.

Specific Responsibilities

• Meeting regularly with and providing financial counseling to individual students in the TRIO SSS program
  
• Helping students to help seek out and apply for sources of financial support
  
• Planning workshops and other events designed to promote healthy financial behaviors
  
• Administering an assessment of students' understanding of personal finances.
  
• Generating and updating a list of internal and external financial aid sources and scholarship programs for SSS participants and maintaining familiarity with those sources
  
• Supporting students in applying for financial support to attend graduate and professional degree programs
  
• Monitoring the FAFSA completion rate of TRIO SSS students and assisting individual students in completing the FAFSA as needed
  
• Collaborating with SU faculty and staff to develop strategies and action programs to assist TRIO SSS students with financial difficulties
  
• Supporting the Director of the Office of TRIO SSS as needed
  
  
  Required Qualifications:
  Education
  A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is required.
  
  Experience
  A minimum of two or more years of prior experience working in a business or finance services office or financial aid office at an accredited college or university is required. Preference for experience working with a TRIO program or another federally funded program designed to support student retention; experience working with financial literacy programs; experience working directly with college students; experience working with student loan services; and a similar socio-economic background to SSS participants.
  
  Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
  The Financial Counselor should be able to work interpersonally with students and staff at SU and to effectively communicate with a large and varied audience. This person should have knowledge of best practices for supporting low-income and first-generation students and students living with disabilities. This person should knowledge of financial issues and challenges confronting undergraduate students and experience working with financial aid and helping students to apply for financial support.
  
  Physical Demand
  Position requires the ability to stand or sit for extended periods of time. Position requires the ability to move about the campus. Position requires the ability to talk and to hear instruction. Position requires occasional manual dexterity and the ability to use fingers, hands, and arms to feel, handle, and reach. Position requires occasional stooping, crouching and bending. Position requires the ability to occasionally lift up to 10 pounds. Working conditions are indoor.
  
  
  Preferred Qualifications:
  
  
  Special Instructions to the Applicant:
  
  
  Benefits Eligible: Yes
  Number of Months: 12 months
  Other Number of Months:
  Full-Time/Part-Time:
  Work Schedule/Hours per Week:
  Posting Date: 01/29/2021
  Closing Date:
  Open Until Filled: No
  Anticipated Start Date:
  Posting Number: AH00708
  
  To apply, visit https://jobs.susqu.edu/postings/2261