Colby College invites applications and nominations for the role of Senior Director of Student Financial Services. The Senior Director will supervise a team of financial aid and student accounts professionals dedicated to providing high-quality student-centered service.
Colby, a highly selective institution, enrolls over 2,400 undergraduate students from over forty-five states and sixty countries, and is committed to meeting 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated financial aid need, determined by using both the CSS Profile for Institutional Methodology (IM) and the FAFSA for Federal Methodology (FM).
Reporting to the Assistant Vice President and Controller, the Senior Director of Student Financial Services oversees all financial services supporting enrolled students, including financial aid administration and student billing, while supervising a team of nine full-time employees. The Senior Director will be a key member of the Financial Services team, which has a diverse range of backgrounds and experience. The team values kindness, clear communication, curiosity, accountability, and pride in Colby.
Working in partnership with colleagues across the Colby community, the Senior Director will offer a collaborative and transparent approach to building appropriate processes and policies for programs which engage students in grant funded research, support through various grants and student success programs, and employment through institutional or federal work-study programs.
Key responsibilities include oversight of institutional, state and federal Title IV financial aid compliance and reconciliation, student billing, and overseeing all aspects of the annual student federal aid cycle for enrolled students. The Senior Director of Student Financial Services will have a command of Title IV financial aid and state programs, ensuring compliance with current regulations and policies, and vast experience in packaging need-based institutional gift aid tied to financial aid strategies and will create and implement policy designed to meet enrollment goals, ensuring the integrity of the College’s financial aid packaging strategy supports the College’s mission and philosophy. The Senior Director will manage the awarding and disbursement of student aid funds for current students and will provide fiscal accountability as related to processing applications, verification, eligibility determinations, return of title IV funds, and professional judgment decisions. The Senior Director will oversee awarding of financial aid to foreign students and conduct the requisite reporting requirements. It is expected that the Senior Director will have a comprehensive knowledge of the philosophy, concept and application of both IM and FM financial aid need analysis methodologies. The Senior Director will oversee and supervise the A-133 annual financial aid audit, and support the preparation of the FISAP.
The Senior Director will be forward thinking, able to provide leadership that leverages the skills of an experienced team, support high quality service to students and parents, and share a compelling vision for maintaining and improving work-flow and service. The Senior Director will utilize, maintain, and annually update PowerFAIDS, and WorkDay (currently being implemented at Colby College), working with SFS staff and ITS to ensure the department’s systems are optimized. In an automated environment, the Senior Director should be nimble with data and comfortable with the technology to support best practices in all aspects of financial aid distribution and fiscal management. The Senior Director will conduct routine reporting and responsive analyses to appropriate internal constituencies.
The Senior Director must be able and willing to work collaboratively in a diverse community of students, staff and faculty. Possessing excellent interpersonal skills, the Senior Director will assure timely and compliant delivery of aid to enrolled students as well as work with the division of admissions and financial aid in the timely and seamless transition of aid packaged for matriculating students. The Senior Director will work to resolve complex financial aid issues with campus constituencies, federal and state agencies, and private organizations to ensure smooth and timely delivery of funds, and will also monitor and oversee student account collections, and participate in and monitor the Colby financial aid budgeting process. The Senior Director will develop and maintain published standards for institutional and student financial aid eligibility designed to provide necessary internal controls and consistency between administrative and academic departments, including but not limited to: Student consumer information; policy and procedure manuals; and work with other administrative offices in aligning policies for the distribution of institutional emergency grants and for student employment. The Senior Director will continuously collaborate with internal and external campus partners to align Student Financial Services policies with college initiatives.
The Senior Director will ensure the continuation of a highly effective financial team through hiring practices and maintaining an engaged, supported, and well informed staff. Creating an atmosphere of collegiality, continuous training within the complexities and ever-changing Title IV federal financial aid regulations, and professional development, the Senior Director of Student Financial Services will lead a talented team of staff through open communications, transparency, feedback, goal setting and accountability.
Qualifications:
- Familiarity with or prior use of CSS Profile and institutional methodology;
- Exposure to both financial aid and billing practices;
- Possesses technological proficiency and understanding of student information systems; experience with PowerFAIDS preferred and WorkDay would be a plus;
- Experience in a highly automated office environment;
- Vision to forecast and plan long-term and ability to work with staff at a detailed level to carry out the vision;
- Excellent interpersonal and administrative skills;
- Extensive knowledge of federal and state financial aid regulations;
- Experience in developing, documenting, and appropriately disseminating institutional policies and procedures;
- Previous experience working with A-133 audits, reconciliation, and federal reporting;
- Understanding of tax implications of individual programs for both domestic and international students;
- A competent, confident, compassionate and collaborative leader committed to the wellbeing of students and the institution with a personal commitment to providing excellent customer care for students, families, and on campus constituents;
- Strong communicator and mentor for staff with the belief in professional training and development;
- Experienced manager and motivational leader able to lead change thoughtfully and successfully;
- Demonstrated emotional intelligence; empathetic with the ability to engage and educate students, families and colleagues;
- Driven by compassion for students and a commitment to their success;
- Thoughtful, creative, and collaborative problem solver with the ability to work within a complex organization;
- An experienced financial aid, student accounts or student financial services professional with a passion for lifelong learning;
- Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree preferred;
- 5 to 7 progressive years of financial aid and/or student accounts experience, culminating in at least the Associate Senior Director level, or equivalent.
Colby College
Dare Northward
Founded in 1813, Colby is one of America’s most selective colleges. Serving only undergraduates, Colby’s rigorous academic program is rooted in deep exploration of ideas and close interaction with world-class faculty scholars. Students pursue intellectual passions, choosing among 58 majors or developing their own. Independent and collaborative research, study abroad, and internships offer robust opportunities to prepare students for postgraduate success. Colby is home to a community of over 2,400 dedicated and diverse undergraduate students from around the globe. Its Maine location provides easy access to world-class research institutions and civic engagement experiences.
Under the leadership of President David A. Greene, since 2014, the College has been undergoing transformational change. Through major investments to grow and diversify the faculty, the College has added new academic programs in areas such as data science, computational biology, genomics, and environmental humanities; and expanded many core areas, including the study of the environment and climate change, performance studies, and creative writing. In 2021 Colby launched the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the first initiative of its kind at a liberal arts college.
The College has dramatically enhanced its arts program through a historic expansion of the Colby Museum of Art’s collection; the establishment of the Lunder Institute for American Art; and the construction of the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, the Greene Block + Studios, and the Paul J. Schupf Art Center. In addition, the College also created the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation, the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, and the Lyons Arts Lab. Through a partnership with the Wyeth family, Colby established a 500- acre island campus off the coast of Maine with the acquisition of Allen and Benner islands. To more deeply connect Colby’s curriculum to the world’s most pressing challenges and to afford all students opportunities for meaningful global, research, and internship experiences, the College created and endowed DavisConnects, redefining the college career center by preparing students for lifelong success, on campus and off, before and after they graduate. Learn more about Colby’s academic programs and curriculum.
Colby has raised over $925 million toward its $1 billion Dare Northward campaign goal, which was the largest campaign goal for a liberal arts college when it launched in 2017. Since 2014, the College’s net assets have doubled to nearly $2 billion, its record of fundraising has moved to the very top tier of liberal arts colleges, and it has rapidly expanded faculty and staff to allow for new areas of inquiry, scholarship, and teaching, and to support record enrollments. The College is committed to transforming the model of liberal arts education, making it more relevant, innovative, and connected to the world’s most important challenges. Learn more about Colby College.
Enrollment and Financial Aid
Colby reimagines the liberal arts experience — providing access to a global experience, research, and internships for all students regardless of their background. This integrated educational experience prepares Colby students to be critical and imaginative thinkers; intellectually curious, proficient communicators; and responsible and active global citizens.
Over the last several years applications for admission have more than tripled, making Colby one of the most sought-after colleges in the country. In recent years Colby has doubled both the number of enrolled Pell-eligible students and the number of enrolled students of color. Colby students, who come from throughout the U.S. and 60 countries, demonstrate unprecedented highs on every measure of academic achievement.
Colby College is committed to student success and the financial aid policies reflect this. Through The Colby Commitment, which ensures the most talented students have access to the best possible education, financial need is met through gift aid from federal, state, and other sources, combined with Colby’s need-based gift aid. Investments in financial aid (a 157 percent increase since 2014, to $82 million annually) are ensuring that all members of the community can thrive in this dynamic environment. Learn more about Colby’s financial aid policies and The Colby Commitment.
Waterville, Maine
Waterville is a city with a population of 16,000 located just 75 minutes north of Portland, an hour from the coast and the Northeast’s top ski resort, and minutes from the beautiful Belgrade Lakes region. The city is home to Quarry Road, an Olympian-designed Nordic ski facility with spectacular hiking/mountain biking trails. Waterville is undergoing a remarkable renaissance with technology, the arts, and renewed retail and services driving economic development. Since 2015, when Colby launched a collaborative approach to transform Waterville’s downtown, the city has experienced a resurgence in population, real estate transactions, property values, and new businesses. Downtown Waterville is home to many shops, restaurants, bars and a well-attended farmers’ market with produce and products sourced from local farmers and craft artisans. Medical facilities, Thomas College, and Colby College lie within city limits. Arts and cultural amenities include the Gordon Center for Performing Arts, the historic Waterville Opera House, the Colby College Museum of Art, and the Railroad Square Cinema, which is widely considered one of the best independent film houses in New England and hosts the renowned annual Maine International Film Festival. The city recently completed a RiverWalk downtown and was awarded a $7.8 million federal BUILD grant to re-route and improve the traffic patterns and streetscape (sidewalks, plantings, and downtown park), contributing to a greater quality of life for residents. Learn more about Colby College and its connections with Waterville, Maine.
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation for the Senior Director for Student Financial Services will be competitive and based on the skills and experience of the selected candidate; consult with the NES search team for insights. This position is a full-time, on campus role, with flexibility. Colby employees enjoy a rewarding career with broad opportunities for continuing education and enrichment, health and wellness facilities and programming, generous benefits including dependent tuition (at any accredited college), and college-wide holiday time off during the Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks in addition to paid time off. Learn more about Colby College Benefits.
To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Colby College in seeking the Senior Director for Student Financial Services. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Robin Reynders (robin.reynders@nessearches.com) or Catherine Capolupo (catherine.capolupo@nessearches.com). All conversations will remain confidential unless otherwise stated and agreed. Interested candidates should submit a résumé and a letter of interest describing their unique qualifications for this role. Candidates should also provide the names and contact information of at least five professional references. For confidentiality, references will not be contacted without permission. For best consideration, all application materials should be submitted electronically to colby@nessearches.com by May 27, 2025. The preferred start date for the new Senior Director of Student Financial Services will be in the late summer of 2025.