Director of Financial Aid

DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID

TRINITY COLLEGE
Hartford, Connecticut

Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, hailed as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation, seeks a self-motivated, experienced, collaborative, and student-centered professional to serve as Director of Financial Aid.

Reporting to Dr. Angel Pérez, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success, this individual will actively participate in all visionary and strategic financial aid discussions centering on serving the institution and its diverse body of students.

The Division:
The division of enrollment and student success includes the offices of undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid, Posse Scholars, career development, student success, retention, and the Individualized Degree Program. The division aims to enroll, fund, and support an academically talented and diverse student body. Working as a highly collaborative unit, the division develops strategies around recruitment, individual student success, outcomes, and retention.

The mission statement for the division is: “We enroll and cultivate intellectually engaged students and prepare them to lead transformative lives.”

The successful candidate will serve as a campus leader and strategist in advancing the overall goals of the division. This leader will join Trinity as the College focuses on creating an enrollment and student success plan that is forward thinking, innovative, and strategic.

This leadership position within the enrollment and student success division will interact and collaborate with administration, faculty, and institutional leadership on campus. The Director of Financial Aid, together with key members of the Enrollment and Student Success leadership team, will cultivate an institutional financial aid program that supports the College’s evolving strategic enrollment plan. The key partners include the leadership team within the Enrollment and Student

Success division, as well as the Chief Financial Officer, Budget Director for the College, and various other individuals in enrollment, student accounts, and in institutional research and technology.

The Director of Financial Aid Responsibilities:

• Serve as a collaborative contributor to ongoing strategic financial aid and enrollment management issues, including econometric enrollment and financial aid modeling, financial aid leveraging and packaging strategies, and retention analysis;
• Ensure compliance with all federal and state regulations, and institutional policies, as well as completing all federal and state reporting requirements;
• Define policies and procedures relating to financial aid operations and the aid processing cycle; partner with colleagues in the enrollment and student success division to ensure that policies and procedures are mutually supportive;
• Provide information and support on federal and state issues and represent the institution at the state and federal level when called upon;
• Responsible for hiring, leading, training, and professionally developing the financial aid staff;
• Ensure the efficacy of all processes and electronic functions within the financial aid programs to provide best practices, customer care, and timely notifications of student eligibility;
• Employ effective stewardship of funds to support access and choice in higher education, institutional enrollment, and net tuition goals;
• Build awareness of students’ range of abilities, breadth of experiences, and nuanced understanding of engaging with one another in a thriving, living-learning community;
• Care deeply for current and prospective students at Trinity College;
• Identify trends, forecast expenditures, and monitor office activities in order to strategically deploy aid funds and staff resources;
• Serve as liaison with deans, departments, student accounts, housing, registrar and other key campus constituents on financial aid issues;
• Responsible for planning and execution of electronic innovation and new initiatives relating to federal program management.

Qualifications

• Experience in federal and state compliance of higher education student financial aid is critical;
• Experience in working with financial aid models, development of financial aid leveraging programs, and strategic use of merit aid funding;
• Knowledge and expertise in financial aid packaging for international students;
• Experience with or a strong understanding of Institutional Methodology (IM) and familiarity with College Board products including the CSS Profile, PowerFAIDS, and IDOC;
• Excels in maximizing CRM and SIS use and efficiency; proficiency with Slate and PeopleSoft is a plus;
• Knack for building a financial aid office around student-centered best practices;
• Evidence of mentoring staff and maximizing operational efficiencies that bring pride to everyday activities and long-term employee satisfaction;
• A highly collaborative, determined individual with a sense of humor will be appreciated;
• Six or more years of experience in a progressively senior supervisory role is required;
• A bachelor’s degree is required and an advanced degree is preferred.

Trinity College
Set on Summit Street in the capital city of Hartford, Connecticut, Trinity College is where the liberal arts meets the real world. Since it opened its doors in 1823, founded in the Episcopal tradition and rooted in principles of religious and academic freedom, Trinity has remained steadfastly committed to providing a liberal arts education that is both relevant and timeless. As the institution completes the development of a strategic plan, prepares for its upcoming bicentennial celebration, and enters into a new capital campaign with a goal of increasing financial aid for its students, the incumbent will have an opportunity to impact enrollment, retention, and student success initiatives at the College.

Today, as we look toward the college’s bicentennial, we do so in the context of a world in which technology has led to innovations we couldn’t have imagined a half-century ago; in which scholarship has advanced understanding of our history, ourselves, and our planet; and in which our lives on campus can connect to those around the globe in ways that are at once instantaneous and enduring… Trinity College is distinctly positioned to advance these ideals and meet these considerable responsibilities, all the while attending to the stability and sustainability of this historic institution. (Summit, A Strategic Plan for the Future of Trinity College)

Trinity maintains its focus through a defined mission, the strategic plan, and a commitment to key initiatives. The liberal arts and sciences are taught on a beautiful, 100-acre campus with classic collegiate architecture. Immersed in an environment fostering independent thinking, students are encouraged to pursue a wide array of interests both in and outside of the classroom. Trinity provides a real-world education. For-credit internships, research opportunities, community-based learning, study away, and groundbreaking centers and programs are available to all students to participate in academic pursuits that have lasting impact on their lives. Beginning in fall 2019, incoming first-year students have three options for entering

Trinity: a traditional fall entry; a newer January start; and Global Start, where students spend their fall semester in San Jose, Costa Rica, giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in another country’s culture in their very first semester of college.

Trinity College’s 2,100 undergraduate students enjoy a 9:1 student-faculty ratio with faculty dedicated to their profession, and committed to working with students in laboratories and libraries, on research and on publications. Students choose Trinity for a classic, yet distinctive college experience in an historic, urban neighborhood. Domestic students hail from forty-seven states and twenty-one percent of the students come from traditionally underrepresented populations. Ten percent are international students from sixty-eight foreign countries. Graduate students number nearly 100.

Trinity College meets the full, institutionally-calculated need of all of its newly admitted first-year financial aid candidates, and four-year aid awards are created for qualifying low-income students. Approximately sixty percent of all Trinity students receive some form of financial assistance from institutional, federal, state, and private funds. Institutional merit scholarships have recently become available on a limited basis. Each year, Trinity students receive more than $50 million in financial aid, with over $40 million committed through institutional funds.

Over 140 student clubs and organizations are offered for student participation. Music festivals, movies, concerts, lectures, student government meetings, a cappella practice, mock trials, and art shows, are a few of the various student activities. Trinity is home to thirty intercollegiate athletic teams and participates in NCAA Division III as well as the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Students may choose to compete in a variety of club sports and intramural sports on campus.

College Leadership:
Since becoming president five years ago, Joanne Berger-Sweeney has overseen several major accomplishments, including the completion of the college’s strategic plan, Summit, which will guide Trinity toward its bicentennial in 2023 and beyond; the creation of the Bantam Network mentoring program for first-year students; the launch of the Campaign for Community, a campus initiative promoting inclusiveness and respect; and the expansion of Trinity’s footprint to Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford.

For more about Trinity College, go to https://www.trincoll.edu/.

Hartford, Connecticut
Proudly located in the state capital, Trinity is a world-class liberal arts college and one of this country’s oldest, residing among other important institutions of higher learning including the University of Connecticut School of Business, the Hartford Seminary, and the University of Connecticut Law School. Both a large town and a small city with a population of 125,000, Hartford has had a range of economic

fortunes throughout the six centuries since first residents colonized along the Connecticut River. Hartford is the historic base of today’s insurance industry and offers a growing number of culturally diverse restaurants, attractions, arts and entertainment venues, and many Fortune 500 companies.

The downtown area of Hartford is its central business district, home to the State Capitol as well as museums and shops. Trinity College is located in the neighborhood of Frog Hollow, near the downtown area. A mixed residential and commercial area, Asylum Hill, features the headquarters of several insurance companies as well as the historic homes of both Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The Connecticut Ballet, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, constructed by the same architects who designed Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Connecticut Opera and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra are a few of the cultural highlights of Hartford. Located halfway between Boston and New York, each within two hours, Hartford is 15 miles from Bradley International Airfield with convenient and inexpensive transit between the airport and the city. Learn more about this unique and prosperous city at Hartford.com.

To Apply

Napier Executive Search is assisting Trinity College in their search for Director of Financial Aid. For more information or to nominate someone for this position, contact Robin Reynders at robin.reynders@napiersearch.com for a confidential conversation.

Interested candidates should submit a current resume along with a cover letter expressing interest in the position and in Trinity College as well as qualifications for the position to trincoll@napiersearch.com on or before May 14, 2019. Candidates should also provide the names and contact information for at least three professional references. References will not be contacted without permission. Finalists will be subject to standard background checks. The start date is anticipated to be Summer 2019 and is negotiable.

Trinity College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities should request, in advance, any needed accommodation in order to participate in the application process.