Assistant Director of Admission and Scholarship Operations

Assistant Director of Admission and Scholarship Operations
University of Southern California | Rossier School of Education
Los Angeles, CA

Summary of Position

The admission operations team serves two primary and critical functions for USC Rossier –  applicant evaluation and admission and scholarship compliance. The Assistant Director of Admission and Scholarship Operations supports the operations team to ensure these two functions are operationalized.  The Assistant Director will assist with: admission and scholarship audits, awarding and reconciliation, admission and scholarship letters, scholarship budget and recipient reports, fielding incoming questions from prospective applicants and enrolled students on scholarship funding, and other miscellaneous projects as requested.

Reporting to the Director of Admission and Scholarship Operations in the division of Strategic Enrollment Services (SES), the Assistant Director will work directly and collaboratively to ensure the integrity of the scholarship awarding process, from the time a student is admitted, to the time enrollment is achieved and student has successfully graduated. They will work closely with the Director to implement and oversee scholarship operations and strategies for USC Rossier graduate programs. The successful candidate will be articulate, organized, and detail-oriented. This position will provide leadership and oversight for institutional and departmental funding, and the comprehensive scholarship awarding processes.

Who you are

The successful candidate will bring a creative spirit to the design, development, and success of an innovative, student-centered, mission-driven strategic enrollment process. They will be results driven and an enthusiastic contributor to the overall enrollment strategy. A strong background in budget management or financial accounting and a comprehensive understanding of Microsoft Excel and various databases is necessary to maintain and coordinate over 100 financial accounts.  The candidate must have the ability to be a resourceful team member, be self-driven, a self-starter, comfortable with ambiguity and motivated to move projects forward.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Administrative Operations (40%):

• Develop and maintain documentation of processes that support the strategic awarding of scholarships, initiate endowment account approvals in Workday, and prepare reports for internal and external use.

• Work closely with the Strategic Enrollment Services team, Financial Aid Office, and USC Rossier Program Offices to ensure scholarship awarding standards are followed and provide support for scholarship recipients as needed.

• Support with the auditing of all admission processes for online and on-campus programs.

• Manage the scholarship pages on the USC Rossier website.

• Provide feedback on policies, procedures, and standards for efficient and effective operation of the scholarship awarding process to the Director to ensure guidelines and procedures are consistent with University mission, goals and applicable regulations, and are responsive to the needs of students and staff.

Scholarship Management (60%):

• Serve as the primary auditor of all USC Rossier-managed program scholarship recommendations.

• Administer all official correspondence to students regarding scholarship decisions.

• Manage the scholarship verification, auditing, tracking and reconciliation for new and continuing students.

• Monitor compliance to and effectiveness of university and department policies and procedures.

• Facilitate scholarship operations committee meetings in collaboration with USC Rossier Advancement and USC Rossier Business Operations

• Serve as subject matter expert on departmental awarding policies and procedures for all USC Rossier programs.

• Support USC Rossier recruitment team in the planning and execution of scholarship information sessions.

• Manage the scholarship and award process, sets priorities and timelines for scholarship cycle, guidelines for scholarship recommendations, creation of scholarship applications in Scholarship Universe, and supports USC Rossier Advancement with donor stewardship.

• Ensures the security of student information, maintaining compliance with institutional and federal regulations, and implementation of data management processes.

Qualifications:

• A graduate degree related to business, marketing, communications, education, marketing, social sciences or related experience is required.

• 3-5 years of enrollment management experience in a university setting either undergraduate, graduate enrollment management, admission, scholarships, admission services is required.

• Candidates must possess a strategic understanding of graduate admission and scholarship operations.

• Skill in examining and re-engineering operations and procedures, formulating policy, and developing and implementing new strategies and procedures.

• Previous experience and knowledge with a CRM, application software and knowledge of computerized student information systems is required.

• Ability to use and analyze data, create reports, spreadsheets, electronic presentation software in order to make and communicate data-driven decisions.

• Must be able to work with various constituencies including prospective students, current students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

• Strong interpersonal communication skills, the ability to maintain effective working relationships with clients, co-workers, and vendors, and excellent decision-making, time-management, and planning skills.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment. Ability to learn quickly, thoroughly, and in detail. Must recognize and adjust to change.

• Candidates must have the ability to be enthusiastic and resourceful team member, be self-driven and motivated to move projects forward, and possess the time management skills to manage competing priorities in a highly demanding environment.

• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, follow through and meet deadlines.

• Ability to exercise independent judgment.

• Substantial working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite including Access, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

• Must be committed to and embody the USC Rossier Mission.

Hybrid work schedule determined by business need.

The hourly range for this position is $34.87 - $39.00. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Applications should be submitted via usccarreers.usc.edu and should include the following:

• Resume

• A cover letter (Our system will allow you to add additional documentation by clicking the “upload” button in the same section where you attach your resume.)

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree Additional Education Requirements Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education Minimum Experience: 3 years Minimum Skills: Directly related experience in student services and programming with ability to lead Preferred Education: Master's degree Doctorate