Financial Aid Specialist, Part-time Osap

Overview:
The incumbent is responsible for maintaining excellent communications and is primarily the first contact for students and parents for the programs in this portfolio. This position is required to maintain a productive relationship with managers and support staff in the Registrar’s Office and other internal support areas particularly Student Finance, Payroll, Accessibility Services, Student Centre, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, and UW Work Study employers across campus. This position is a liaison for both the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) who is responsible for the OSAP program and the National Student Loan Service Centre (NSLSC) who process and release OSAP loans and grants. The NSLSC is also responsible for the collection of OSAP loans.

**Responsibilities**:
Decision Making
- Applies explicit guidelines and procedures when making decisions
- Identify and gather information to assess alternative resolutions following policy guidelines
- Sound judgement and comprehensive knowledge required to solve complex problems related to financial aid and BSWD programs
- Establish priorities to ensure efficiency is met with the demand of the workload

Administration of Part-Time OSAP and the BSWD Program
- Administer Part-Time OSAP student program on Ministry Portal System including all Document Work Queues. Forward appropriate communications to students with information for fee arrangement, documentation required for confirmation of enrolment and for the release of funding
- Responsible for reporting to the NSLSC changes to students’ academic progress such as withdrawals as per audit requirements. Communications are sent to students with the impact this has on funding and requirements to self-fund a term in order to receive further Part-Time OSAP
- Responsible for calculating and returning of funds from withdrawal/refund reports to the NSLSC
- Administer the BSWD program funded by the Provincial and Federal governments based on MCU’s policies. BSWD approvals recorded on MCU Bursary Recording System (BRS) and an internal UW SharePoint. Accounts payable (AP) disbursements and accounts receivable (AR) settlements sheets are uploaded through the SharePoint Finance Resource System. Review and update SharePoint permissions access for staff changes as required
- Create new procedures and implement these changes for all programs in portfolio as required
- Monitor the monthly and overall expenditure of each program and notify the Director if additional funds are required

Administration of the UW Part-Time Bursary and UW Work Study programs
- Responsible for monitoring spending of the funding allocated for the fiscal year

Reconciliation for BSWD and UW Work Study Program
- Reconcile the Bursaries for Students with Permanent Disabilities (BSWD) on to the UW GL account in Unit 4 to the MCU Bursary Recording System (BRS). Confirm that receipts for BSWD purchases are entered on the BRS and records all refunds of unused bursary for fiscal year reconciliation. Notices are sent to students with outstanding documentation or receipts. Responsible for sending incomplete files to MCU for follow-up after receipt deadline. Accountable for collecting internal compliance data for audit
- Maintain detailed SharePoint spreadsheets of disbursements and receivables for BSWD to assist reconciling monthly reports and fiscal year end
- Reconcile the UW Work-Study payroll GL account each month. Advise Human Resources-Payroll with a summary of issues for corrections as needed. Coordinate with HR to ensure only eligible students’ hours are charged to Work Study account

Communications, Client Service and Teamwork
- Respond to written, telephone and in-person inquiries from students, parents and other departments relaying information regarding Financial Aid Programs.
- Provide individual financial aid and BSWD counselling to students with information and advice
- Communicate as required with MCU representatives, program administrators/coordinators regarding procedures and policies and NSLSC
- Maintain and share all relevant information with team members and management

Qualifications:

- Undergraduate Degree preferred or equivalent work experience with some post-secondary education
- Extensive administrative experience in customer service environment within the post-secondary sector required, preferably with government student aid programs
- Proven ability to deal with difficult or sensitive situations with tact and diplomacy
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Experience interpreting complex government and institutional policies guidelines and procedures
- Proven ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, and adjust to change
- Ability to work both independently and in a collaborative, team-based environment
- Intermediate to Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and SharePoint
- Experience using on-line student information system (Quest)
- Excellent communication skills, b