Associate Director, Student Financial Services
Elon Uni Careers, Charlotte, NC, United States
Title: Associate Director, Student Financial Services
Position Type: Staff Full-Time
Days Per Week: Monday - Friday
Hours Per Week: 40
VP Area: Finance and Administration
Department: Student Financial Services
Location: Elon Main Campus
Position Summary
The Associate Bursar reports directly to the University Bursar and works as an integral part of a team to ensure compliance with university, state, and federal regulations governing student billing and payments, including federal loans. This position collaborates with colleagues across multiple departments, including Financial Aid and Accounting, and serves as the principal reconciler of receivables and other deposits with the bank. Responsibilities include processing all electronic payments, managing institutional loan programs, and providing audit assistance. The role supports third‑party billing and payment‑plan software and acts as the primary liaison for PCI requirements and electronic deposits through gateways such as PayPal.
Benefits of Working at Elon
As an Elon University employee, you’ll join an internationally acclaimed university that fosters a thriving community. Ranked among the most innovative and best‑run universities in the nation, Elon offers a personal approach to education and employee development, including:
- 28 annual days off, including holidays and vacation
- Immediate tuition remission for undergraduate courses
- Tuition remission for approved graduate‑level courses after 12 months of employment
- Retirement plan with an 8 percent contribution from the university
- Immediate eligibility for health, dental and vision insurance, and free acute care and lab services at the onsite Health & Wellness Clinic
- Free use of campus fitness facilities
- Free admission to musical and theater performances, guest speakers, religious and ethnic observances, recitals, art exhibitions, entertainment and our Division I Phoenix athletics
- Eligibility for tuition remission at Elon for spouses, qualifying domestic partners and dependents after two years of service
- Eligibility for participation in the Tuition Exchange, a national scholarship exchange program for dependents after two years of employment
Elon values and celebrates the diverse backgrounds of our community members. As an equal‑opportunity employer, Elon extends its commitment to diversity in race, gender identity, age, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, religion and other aspects of identity. Employees respect human differences and uphold an ethic of service.
Minimum Required Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required, concentration in business administration, accounting, finance, management or a related field
- 3 years progressively responsible experience in student financial services, banking, or related fields
- Strong experience with electronic spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel
- Experience demonstrating a focus on customer service and managing sensitive situations
Preferred Education and Experience
- 5 to 7 years of relevant experience including accounts receivable administration, bank reconciliations, and billing
- Higher education experience with student account services and a demonstrated understanding of student financial services
- Experience with Touchnet, Cashnet and other student billing packages
- Experience with Ellucian Colleague or a similar ERP system
- Working knowledge of financial aid Title IV regulations and generally accepted accounting principles
Job Duties
- Reconciliations
- Provide daily reconciliations for all deposits made from the Bursar’s office, account receivables, and banking institutions
- Provide monthly journal entries and bank statement reconciliations to the Director of Budgets and Cash Management in a timely manner to support month‑end close
- Ensure all reconciling items are identified with follow‑through to resolution
- Receivables
- Ensure compliance with federal and state regulations governing student payments and billing
- Manage student account receivables, including follow‑up with students and collection processes as needed
- Work with collection agencies to place outstanding student account receivables
- Monitor outstanding student account receivables to ensure timely follow‑up and placement with collection agencies
- Review daily refund requests received online, analyze financial account activity to determine refund eligibility, and process accordingly, including Title IV refunds to the appropriate beneficiary
- Import daily file from the university lockbox of payments received, identify errors and process corrections, and research any issues regarding missing payments or incorrect payment amounts
- Loan Programs
- Direct and administer the institutional Elon loan and Elon Law Bar loan, including preparing and executing loan documents and submitting information to the third‑party servicer for repayment
- Administer the federal Perkins loan program, working with third‑party servicer for repayment and following federal guidelines for closing the loan program, and conduct exit interviews as needed
- Third‑Party Software
- Work with Flywire Account Rep to set payment‑plan parameters/dates for each billing semester, import installment payments into Colleague, troubleshoot payment‑plan issues with parents/students, and import contract amounts onto bills prior to semester start
- Maintain billing terms in Flywire, troubleshoot technical issues between Flywire and Colleague, transfer authorized user data into Colleague, and manage Flywire reporting
- Maintain all university credit card machines on campus, serving as the contact person for maintenance and troubleshooting issues, working with the provider on any account issues, and upholding PCI requirements
- Audit
- Prepare audit schedules for institutional loan programs and receivable/cash accounts
- Respond to auditor requests for additional information
- Other
- Serve as petty cash administrator for faculty, staff and students; coordinate cash replenishment orders with Wells Fargo through Cash Vault and create journal entries for Accounting
- Assist with maintaining the office webpage, including updating the schedule of fees, due dates, and other relevant information, and establish a social media presence for the Student Financial Services Office to communicate important dates and information
- Inclusive Community Building
Community is foundational to Elon and a shared responsibility within our residential campus. All employees are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and engagement with Elon’s commitment to relationships, mentoring and collaboration. Employees should actively join campus activities such as College Coffee, Numen Lumen, cultural and athletic events, continuing education, professional development opportunities, and Employee Resource Groups to enrich diversity, equity, and inclusion through meaningful relationships and mentoring.