Director, Graduate Scholarships and Awards Services

Nature of Work:

• The Director reports to the Senior Director, Graduate Student Services, CGPS.
• The Director administers $3-4 million in externally funded programs and over $14 million in internally funded programs including distribution of major scholarship program allocations to academic units and more than 400 individual endowed scholarships, bursaries, and awards.
• The scope of the work is broad with significant institutional impact including significant financial risk and reputational risk and with a high level of impact on the graduate student experience.
• The Director provides strategic advice to the Senior Director on all matters related to graduate scholarships and awards and as a member of the college leadership team works to effectively integrate management of scholarship funds and competitions with the other strategic, administrative, and academic activities of the college.
• The work of this position is complex and demanding, involving sensitive and confidential information and requires the ability to manage many and often competing deadlines, and interfaces with many internal and external platforms.
• The work for the portfolio is high in volume, cyclical in nature, and highly deadline driven. Failure to meet external deadlines will financially impact students and programs and the reputation of the university. Failure to adhere to schedules for internal processes will cause delays in payments to students causing significant financial hardship and negatively impact the recruitment of top graduate students.
• Works with delegated authority from the Senior Director to make decisions with significant financial impact within the Awards and Scholarships portfolio.
• The role requires collaboration to address complex, sensitive, and strategically significant issues in relation to scholarships and awards management both for individual students and for programs and fund management.
• Works closely with senior leaders in CGPS including the SBA Finance, the Executive Officer, and the Director of Program Services to integrate the work of the Awards team within the college including communications and management of student academic issues management and financial management.

Employment Group: ASPA, Managerial, Phase 3
Full Time Equivalent (FTE): 1.0

TYPICAL DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Under the direction of the Senior Director synthesizes and implements long- and short-term strategies to address the needs and responsibilities of the college, to address current and emerging challenges, and to enhance service to all stakeholders of the institution’s graduate and postdoctoral community.
• Regularly reviews existing programs and develops and implements new scholarship and award programs that align with institutional goals and values.
• Informed by comparator institutions, will lead the establishment and implementation of a new graduate award application management system.
• Based on experience and knowledge of the institution and stakeholders, anticipate future challenges, and proactively initiate and advocate for changes.
• Collaborate with the staff of the college and other administrative and academic units to identify and implement the program management initiatives required to strategically meet the objectives of the graduate community with a focus on distribution of central scholarship funding.
• Represent CGPS on committees, working groups and teams for special projects and ongoing institutional initiatives as appropriate.
• Lead, advise, consult, and make recommendations to the Senior Director dealing with affairs of centrally funded scholarships related to all aspects of awards and scholarship policies.
• Participates in consultations by external funding agencies and anticipates and responds to changes in programs from external funding agencies.
• Works with academic units, campus partners, and external organizations to identify and secure funding opportunities for graduate students.
• Works with the CGPS communications teams to develop and maintain an awards-specific communications strategy.

• The Director recruits, mentors, supervises, and directs the work of awards staff within the college.
• Conducts ongoing training and development activities with direct reports and other CGPS staff to maintain a productive and effective staff
• Develops and maintains a set of internal standard operating procedures (SOP) and operating standards that document agreed workflow processes and activities to support graduate scholarships and CGPS policies to guide the work of the Awards and Scholarship Services team to provide resiliency in operations and communicate functional activities to all stakeholders.
• Advises administrative staff on policy, new initiatives, and emerging challenges and provides for training as needed.
• Facilitates training for faculty and staff in academic units to support students’ high quality competitive applications with a focus on external scholarships (i.e.: Tri-Agency).

• Manages the scholarship application and selection processes, including communicating with applicants, coordinating selection committees, and ensuring compliance with institutional and external regulations.
• Works closely with the Chair of the CGPS Awards Committee to oversee scholarship adjudication processes for internal and external awards and proposes improvements to process including adherence to principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Serves as one of the institution’s Tri-Agency Scholarship Liaison Officers and oversees application, adjudication, submission, and payment processes for all Tri-Agency scholarships and awards.
• Facilitates the transfer of scholarship funds within the college’s scholarship funding envelope and to units across campus through the Student Support Fund and CGPS 75th Anniversary Scholarship Fund as appropriate.
• The Director will recommend strategies and develop multi-year forecasts to ensure that internal funds are maximally utilized to support graduate students on an annual basis while managing funds to mitigate financial risk of multiyear commitments.
• Oversees Awards and Scholarships Services team to provide guidance, training, and support to graduate students regarding scholarship opportunities and application procedures.
• Provides leadership to improve competitiveness of graduate students for external scholarships.
• Develops and maintains relationships with scholarship donors and sponsors and provides stewardship and recognition of donor funded scholarships in collaboration with University Relations officers, the CGPS Executive Officer, and the Senior Director.
• Reviews new terms for endowed scholarships and awards and recommends to the Senior Director for approval.
• Acts as CGPS liaison on graduate funding related matters to various offices on campus including finance, human resources, student central, the International Student and Study Abroad Centre (TLSE), the International Office (VPR), and the University Relations advancement team.
  • Develops and maintains accurate records and data to monitor scholarship program outcomes and impact.
• Collaborates with CGPS communications team and other support centres to enhance scholarship program effectiveness and visibility including celebration of recipients.

• Will oversee the storage and archiving of awards files and ensure this aligns with the new CGPS systematic document management process.
• Prepares reports and presentations on scholarship program outcomes and impact for internal and external stakeholders such as the CGPS Awards Committee, CGPS Council, and university level governance committees.
• Works with various university service providers on a continuous basis to maintain and improve graduate scholarship management tools and processes.
• Collaborates with information technology groups on campus to maintain and improve graduate student systems as they relate to scholarship funding and awards and integration with various information systems.
• In partnership with the CGPS communications team, ensures the CGPS website and scholarship databases accurately reflect scholarship, awards and bursary opportunities and current policy and procedures.

• Keeps current with practices and issues in scholarship policy and management through professional networks of senior administrative staff at other Canadian and international universities.
• Ensures members of the awards team participate in special and ongoing events and forums as needed to represent CGPS and graduate community interests including various recruitment activities.
• May serve as delegate of the Dean on the Scholarships and Awards Committee of University Council.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree in related field (e.g., MPA, MBA, MPAcc) would be considered an asset. Combinations of education, training and experience will be considered.

EXPERIENCE: 

• At least 5 years of experience in scholarship or grant administration or related field.
• A track record of implementing improvements and transformative change through the design, development, and maintenance of business processes and systems.
• Experienced people manager
• Prior knowledge of scholarship and financial aid regulations and policies is an asset.

SKILLS:

• Exemplary written and oral communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, including academic departments, external organizations, and individual donors.
• Strong analytical and data management skills including management of financial funds.
• Commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarship programs.
• Solutions focused and creative problem solving.
• Ability to take initiative and adapt to changing environments.

 Inquiries regarding this position can be directed to Marc Usunier at 966-6733.