Enrollment Services Advisor

ABOUT SIMMONS Located in Boston’s historic Fenway area, Simmons has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons University was one of the first higher education institutions to prepare women to become leaders and has evolved to become a university offering a women’s undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all. You’re joining our community at an especially exciting time as one of our strategic goals is to become the most inclusive campus in New England. You’ll find that people who work here are truly committed to our mission of preparing students to become champions of social justice and leaders in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace. Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual’s community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum. The Simmons One Stop is an integrated approach for the delivery of Student Services related to financial matters, records and registration activities, student employment, and services for veteran and military affiliated students at Simmons University. The One Stop also comprises ancillary services including the distribution of MBTA passes and Student IDs. The Enrollment Services Advisor plays a pivotal role in the delivery of services to our students (prospective and current) as well as their families. It is anticipated that through effective training and established escalation protocols this position will be able to resolve 80% of the situations presented by students with whom they interact. The overall goal of the One Stop model is to assist individuals and resolve issues through a single point of contact. The Advisor position will have a broad general knowledge of the processes and applicable procedures associated with all Student Business Services. This will include undergraduate and graduate, online and in person. The Advisor (and the One Stop) is the public facing doorway for all of the Student Business Service units within Enrollment Management. JOB SUMMARY The Advisor is a problem-solver who will be empowered by all units they support to resolve issues, access information and analyze a student’s circumstances in order to complete routine to complex interactions. By understanding and assessing the full scope of the student’s enrollment status they can handle tasks directly, while initiating some actions requiring advanced professional assistance. The Enrollment Services Advisor serves as a student advocate facilitating the enrollment process (post admission) from start to finish. The Advisor will provide service and assistance to the entire Simmons Community and have responsibilities including, but not limited to: building relationships with students and their families, engaging in goal driven support services, registration processes/procedures, providing financial aid and scholarship information, applying rules/regulations, and fostering a culture of quality and excellence. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. Provide exceptional customer service to prospective and current students, and families as it relates to all student business service areas; including (but not limited to) financial aid, billing, payment, registration, student employment, parking and ID card access. Help resolve student issues through walk-ins, phone calls, and emails and follow through with all necessary processes required to ensure successful resolution of these issues. Excellent customer service in this position requires that the Advisor actively engage in a full review of the student’s status and the impact of any requested changes to ensure that requested changes in one area will not cause conflicts in another area or impact the student’s degree completion. Provide guidance to other Simmons Staff and community members, students and their families regarding financial aid, degree requirements and helping students understand general requirements to reach their educational goals. Support operational workflow of the One Stop by efficiently and accurately tracking and filing all confidential student documentation; Ensure accurate entry of all book and parking vouchers. Maintain accurate entries and documentation in the University's student information system (Workday) and financial aid system (PowerFaids). Provide assistance with general inquiries related to One Stop Student Business Services including but not limited to resolving account holds, processing forms, adding/dropping courses, initiating the leave of absence process, payment plan information, financial aid, enrollment verification and course audits. Evaluate complex student issues or inquiries and escalate to appropriate team member. Ensure all documentation and information shared with students is up to date, accurate, compliant and comprehensive. Track inbound inquiries to ensure that One Stop FAQ website contains most relevant information during periods of peak volume; Provide support to team members during periods of high volume that follow the annual academic lifecycle. Works to resolve issues while serving as a liaison between the student and other departments, explains and administers school policies. Provides positive, timely and responsive action to students, staff, faculty, and third parties. Ability to develop, plan and implement short- and long-term goals; Ability to organize resources and establish priorities. Provide support for student workers. Perform other duties as assigned. Conveys by word and action the values of Simmons University. OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Ability to develop, plan and implement short- and long-term goals Ability to organize resources and establish priorities. Provide support for student workers. Perform other duties as assigned. Conveys by word and action the values of Simmons University. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Bachelors’ degree in an appropriate area or coursework combined with 1 – 3 years direct student services experience. One year of experience in any of the following capacities: professional higher education positions in student services (Admissions, Financial Aid, Registrar’s Office, etc.) and related functions such as call center experience, student worker/work study/ambassador for Simmons University or other customer service positions. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, written and verbal; ability to navigate challenging conversations. Ability to work in a fast-paced environment. Computer skills with knowledge of windows, excel, word, Power-Point, and Outlook required, advanced Excel, MS Access, FTP or other import processes preferred. Exceptional attention to details with strong time management and prioritization skills. Good work ethic and sense of humor necessary. WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMAND This position is full time, 40 hours a week with hybrid eligibility. Salary Grade H05 Instructions to Applicants : Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF). Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual’s community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum. #J-18808-Ljbffr