Assistant Vice Chancellor

Employment Status: Full time (29\-40 Hrs) Type of Employment: Staff \# of openings: 1 Location: ASU\-Jonesboro Proposed Salary Range: Commensurate with Experience Closing: 10/14/26 Please note: All postings close at 12 A.M. CST on the closing date. This employer participates in E\-Verify. Position Summary: The Assistant Vice Chancellor of Financial Aid and Scholarships provides executive leadership for Arkansas State University's financial aid and scholarship programs. Serving as the University's senior financial aid administrator, the Assistant Vice Chancellor is responsible for financial aid strategy, policy, priorities, and accountability frameworks that promote regulatory compliance, operational effectiveness, fiscal stewardship, student access, affordability, and student\-centered service excellence. Reporting directly to the Vice Chancellor for Distance Education \& Technology, this position advises senior leadership on financial aid policy, regulatory risk, institutional aid strategy, affordability, enrollment, retention, and student\-success strategies. The Assistant Vice Chancellor provides executive oversight of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, supervises and develops the office’s leadership team, establishes performance expectations, and holds functional leaders accountable for the accurate, timely, equitable, and compliant administration of federal, state, institutional, and private aid and scholarship programs. The position works in partnership with the Director of Financial Aid and other functional leaders to ensure that effective operational structures, policies, procedures, controls, and service standards are maintained while delegating day\-to\-day programs administration and operational management to appropriate office leadership. The position works closely with Admissions, the Registrar, Student Accounts, Finance, Academic Affairs, Information Technology Services, Institutional Research, Advancement, the University Foundation, and other partners to align financial aid and scholarship practices with institutional priorities. This role is governed by state and federal laws and institutional policies. Duties \& Responsibilities: Executive Leadership and Strategy Set the strategic direction, priorities, service standards, and annual goals for Financial Aid and Scholarships in alignment with the University's mission, enrollment objectives, affordability commitments, and student\-success priorities. Advise the Vice Chancellor and other senior leaders on financial aid policy, regulatory developments, risk, resource needs, institutional aid strategy, and the effects of proposed decisions on students and the University. Serve as the executive sponsor for major financial aid initiatives, organizational changes, policy implementation, and cross\-functional process improvements. Develop and assess strategies that use financial aid and scholarships effectively to support student recruitment, enrollment yield, persistence, completion, and access. Represent Financial Aid and Scholarships on University and system committees and with state and federal agencies, auditors, accreditors, professional associations, vendors, and other external partners as assigned. Compliance, Risk Management, and Internal Controls Maintain executive accountability for institutional compliance with applicable federal, state, and institutional policies. Establish the compliance\-management framework, including internal controls, segregation of duties, quality assurance, training expectations, monitoring, and corrective action. Lead institutional preparation for annual audits, single audits, program reviews, and other compliance examinations; coordinate responses, documentation, corrective\-action plans, and resolution of findings. Monitor regulatory and legislative changes, assess institutional impact, communicate requirements to stakeholders, and oversee timely implementation. Ensure appropriate access controls, data stewardship, privacy, records retention, and information\-security practices for sensitive student and financial data. Financial Aid and Scholarship Operations Provide executive oversight of the full financial aid lifecycle and establish performance, quality, escalation, and continuity expectations. Hold the Director of Financial Aid accountable for accurate, timely, compliant day\-to\-day financial aid operations. Establish operational calendars that support accurate and timely aid delivery throughout the academic year. Intervene in the most significant student or operational escalations involving institutional, regulatory, legal, reputational, or systemic risk. Provide executive oversight for scholarship strategy, policy, institutional priorities, donor/foundation relationships, and overall scholarship effectiveness. Fund Stewardship and Fiscal Accountability Provide executive oversight for federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid and scholarship funds. Develop and monitor the departmental budget and make resource recommendations that support compliance, operational capacity, and strategic priorities. Evaluate institutional aid and scholarship models for affordability, enrollment, and fiscal sustainability. Maintain executive accountability for financial integrity while delegating routine reconciliation and operational fund management. Technology, Data, and Process Improvement Provide executive governance and oversight for financial aid technology and systems in partnership with Information and Technology Services and functional system leaders. Lead business\-process reviews that simplify student and staff experiences, reduce manual work and risk, strengthen controls, and improve processing timeliness and accuracy. Set priorities and risk expectations for Banner configuration, interfaces, security, testing, change management, and production while delegating routine functional administration. Ensure leadership receives timely, accurate reporting and analysis to support policy, enrollment, budget, and operational decisions. Staff Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness Provide direct leadership to directors and other senior staff and executive oversight for all employees within Financial Aid and Scholarships. Establish a clear organizational structure, roles, decision rights, accountability measures, and succession and continuity plans. Recruit, develop, evaluate, and retain a knowledgeable and service\-oriented team; ensure ongoing regulatory training, professional development, cross\-training, and performance management. Foster a culture of compliance, collaboration, professionalism, continuous improvement, accountability, and responsive service to students and families. University Partnerships and Student Service Collaborate with Admissions, Registrar, Student Accounts, Finance, Academic Affairs, Information Technology Services, Institutional Research, Advancement, the University Foundation, academic units, and other offices to coordinate policy, timelines, systems, communications, and student support. Establish clear, accurate, accessible, and timely communications for students and families regarding eligibility, requirements, awards, changes, appeals, deadlines, and financial obligations. Develop service expectations and escalation pathways for counseling, outreach, special circumstances, complaints, and complex cases, with particular attention to removing administrative barriers for students. Perform other duties as assigned. Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: Comprehensive knowledge of federal Title IV regulations, state financial aid programs, institutional aid, scholarships, and generally accepted financial aid administration practices, with the ability to provide executive oversight within a complex regulatory environment. Strong knowledge of financial aid compliance, internal controls, audit and program\-review requirements, and regulatory areas including satisfactory academic progress, Return of Title IV Funds, verification, professional judgment, consumer information, cash management, reconciliation, and audit or program\-review readiness. Strong understanding of financial aid operations, fund management, internal controls, risk management, and the interdependencies among financial aid, enrollment, registration, billing, finance, academics, and information technology. Advanced knowledge of enterprise student information and financial aid systems; experience with Ellucian Banner Financial Aid, automated job processing, integrations, reporting, testing, and data governance is strongly preferred. Demonstrated ability to lead a complex, high\-volume operation; establish priorities; manage multiple deadlines; and make sound decisions in a changing regulatory environment. Strong supervisory and organizational leadership skills, including the ability to develop leaders, manage performance, build cross\-functional teams, and sustain effective operations during peak periods and organizational change. Ability to analyze complex data, identify risk and trends, develop actionable recommendations, and communicate financial aid implications clearly to executive, technical, functional, and public audiences. Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, presentation, negotiation, and conflict\-resolution skills. Commitment to student access, affordability, service excellence, ethical administration, confidentiality, and continuous improvement. General Days/Hours: Monday \- Friday 8:00 a.m. \- 5:00 p.m. Additional hours as requested and/or needed, particularly during peak processing periods, audits, and institutional deadlines. Regular and reliable attendance. Other: Please note: all position postings close at 12:00 A.M. CST on the position closing date. Preferred Qualifications: An earned master's degree in higher education administration, business administration, public administration, finance, student affairs, or a related field. Ten (10\) or more years of progressively responsible financial aid experience, including senior leadership of a comprehensive financial aid and scholarship operation. Experience managing a substantial and complex portfolio of federal, state, institutional, and private aid at a four\-year public university. Experience with Ellucian Banner Financial Aid, including functional configuration, job processing, integrations, testing, reporting, data integrity, and access governance. Experience developing institutional aid or scholarship strategies that support enrollment, retention, affordability, and student success. Other job\-related education and/or experience may be substituted for all or part of these basic requirements, except for certification or licensure requirements, upon approval of the qualifications review committee. Location Requirement: To be considered for this position, candidates must reside in Arkansas or a state that shares a border with Arkansas (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, or Oklahoma. This residency requirement supports team collaboration, regional knowledge, and occasional in\-person engagement as needed. This position is designated as a hybrid position, requiring a combination of on\-campus and remote work. The employee will be expected to work on campus as needed to fulfill the responsibilities of the position, attend meetings, collaborate with colleagues, and provide services to students, faculty, staff, or other university constituents. Remote work may be permitted on designated days with prior approval from the supervisor and in accordance with applicable university policies. The hybrid work arrangement is subject to the needs of the department and may be modified or discontinued based on operational requirements, performance, or changes in university policy. Individuals in this position will be required to review and acknowledge the Telecommuting Guidelines and Telecommuting Agreement for A\-State. Minimum Qualifications: The formal education equivalent of an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in higher education administration, business administration, public administration, finance, student affairs, information systems, or a related field. Five (5\) years of progressively responsible professional experience in financial aid administration, scholarships, enrollment services, or a closely related higher education function, including at least five (5\) years in a supervisory or leadership role. Demonstrated experience administering federal Title IV programs and leading complex financial aid operations, compliance activities, audits, or program reviews. Demonstrated experience with enterprise financial aid or student information systems, regulatory reporting, reconciliation, and cross\-functional process improvement.