Scholarships Assistant
Who We Are/What We Do
Founded in 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund empowers Latino families with the knowledge and resources to successfully complete a higher education, while providing scholarships and support services to as many exceptional Hispanic American students as possible. HSF strives to make college education a top priority for every Latino family across the nation, mobilizing our community to proactively advance that goal - each individual, over a lifetime, in every way he/she can. HSF also seeks to give its Scholars all the tools they need to do well in their course work, graduate, enter a profession, excel, help lead our nation going forward, and mentor the generations to come. As the nation's largest not-for-profit organization supporting Hispanic American higher education, HSF has awarded over $500 million in scholarships and provides a range of impactful programs for students, HSF Scholars, Alumni, and parents. For more information about the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, please visit HSF.net.
Department Description
The Scholarship Administration and Processing department conducts the administration and processing of the the Hispanic Scholarships Fund's scholarship programs, which includes implementation and compliance that leads to the successful disbursement of funds to scholarship recipients.
Role Description
The Assistant, Scholarship Administration and Processing supports the Scholarship Administration and Processing team in managing the day-to-day activities involved in administering the scholarship programs, including implementation, processing and compliance. This person will also participate in all aspects of HSF's implementation of the scholarship programs, including, but not limited to, program retention.
Responsibilities
Administrative Tasks
- Troubleshoot scholarship processing issues with scholars and the financial aid office.
- Support the scholarships team.
- Support requests for/evaluation of student transcripts.
- Support monitoring of scholars for full-time attendance.
Work With Scholars
- Inform scholars on strategies for successful completion of applications.
Additional Responsibilities
- Support award allocations (Disbursement, Selection, Verification, Renewal, Revisions and Summer Funding), and prepare scholar notification mailings.
- Maintain scholarship email accounts.
- Assist in student eligibility assessment and document management.
- Support alumni activities.
- Perform additional duties and responsibilities, as required.
Qualifications
Education/Experience
- Fluency in speaking and writing Spanish is highly desirable.
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited university; however, advanced degree preferred.
- Minimum of 1 year work experience in college financial aid and/or higher education.
- Experience working in a call center providing customer services.
- Direct student and parent contact.
Specific Professional Skills
- Knowledge of financial aid process and college admissions.
- Knowledge of college retention measures.
- Experience counseling high school, undergraduate students is desirable.
Broad Professional Skills
- Excellent judgment and creative problem solving skills, including conflict-resolution skills.
- Experience working effectively in a complex, multifaceted environment.
- Organizational skills in setting priorities to complete a heavy workload within established time frames and deadlines.
- Exceptional writing, editing, and oral communication skills.
Technical Expertise
- Proficiency in database administration and logic, data imports and export, and developing reports.
- Proficiency in MS Excel and Word, web research fluency, and the ability to learn and manage various information system technologies.
Personal Attributes
- The knowledge, intellect, temperament and flexibility to work effectively in an intense, fast-paced, and high-performance environment.
- Ability to listen perceptively and take appropriate action in assisting students.
- Strategic and creative visionary, with the drive and organizational skills necessary to ensure that strategies are implemented, objectives achieved, and success measured.
- Ability to manage diverse relationships and interact with all types of people, at all levels of an organization.
- Principled, ethical, professional, and committed to exceptional work quality and standards.
- A high level of personal and professional confidence and sophistication.
- Upbeat, positive, and enthusiastic.
- A high level of energy and initiative.
- Team player.
Additional Requirements
- Experience as a cross-functional team member.
- Must be flexible and available to work weekends and/or extended work days, as required.
- Ability to work and thrive in a start-up type of environment where information is not always structured and/or routinely available.
Other Criteria
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This position requires:
- Constant sitting or standing,
- Some walking around, and
- Occasionally lifting no more than 10 pounds.