Tysquan J. Meaders
Dallas,TX
Summary
Seasoned Senior Associate Consultant with strong history of skilled project management and client engagement. Builds successful relationships at all organizational levels in fast-paced, complex and sensitive environments. Well-skilled in analytical techniques and student information systems, spreadsheet, and database manipulation. Dynamic and dedicated Financial Aid Professional who is recognized for communicating effectively at various levels and acting as a liaison between administration and students. Track record of meeting targets and deadlines efficiently. Demonstrated ability to implement policies and procedures to facilitate the smooth workflow. 10+ years of helping students reach full potential through educational resources. Thrives in fast-paced and ever-changing business environments. Extensive experience working with and technical knowledge of student financial aid programs. Proficient in developing creative solutions and implementing objective decision making.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Associate Consultant
Financial Aid Services Inc.
03.2023 - Current
- Provide leadership and direction for a student focused solution-based customer service model - emphasizing Service Excellence in the delivery of services and development of solutions. Supervise, mentor, and lead the financial aid advisors and document processing teams. Plan and direct daily operations and manage productivity of the teams.
Provide guidance through short-, medium- & long-term planning, direction, coordination and driving of activities in Quality and Operational Excellence. - Ensure effective, up to date, and accurate operations in financial aid and increase educational access for students.
Coordinate and manage office outreach activities, student communication, web-based/online presence, and customer service (phones, counselors, and support requests). - Forecast and provide financial aid data. Write queries and analyze reports to monitor processing statuses, make and implement recommendations.
- Provide support to financial aid administration through automation. Advise departments and units regarding automation and interaction with student management systems.
- In collaboration with the management, monitor and audit compliance with Federal, state, and university policies and procedures related to the delivery of student financial aid.
- Oversee documentation and update of systems-related procedures and policies. Direct and help train staff in systems-related business processes and with the use of new and existing technologies.
- Gathering information to assess the project's success with measurable outcomes.
- Reviewed and edited client communication documents.
- Interacted with team and clients to develop and coordinate project requirements and workflow.
- Managed projects using holistic thinking, resolved key strategic challenges and delivered projects against tight deadlines.
- Obtained data from identified sources via interviews, data downloads and data transcription and analyzed to yield meaningful insights.
- Monitored and frequently reported on project status to clients and verified projects met client requirements and quality standards.
- Analyzed problematic areas to provide recommendations and solutions.
- Integrated technology and business operations to identify targeted solutions to issues.
- Implemented practices, policy and procedures to eliminate findings and increase administrative capability.
- HCM2/ HCM1 Implemented controls and focused compliance areas
- Helped meet changing demands by recommending improvements to business systems or procedures.
Senior Financial Aid Consultant
Higher Education Assistance Group, Inc.
03.2020 - 10.2023
- Delivered outstanding service to clients to maintain and extend relationship for future business opportunities.
- Analyzed problematic areas to provide recommendations and solutions.
- Managed multiple deadlines across several businesses to meet dynamic needs of multiple clients.
- Created and developed detailed work plans to meet business priorities and deadlines.
- Implemented practices and procedures to eliminate compliance issues and increase administrative capability
- Maintenance of Student Records
- Federal Need Analysis
- Institutional Need Analysis (if applicable)
- ISIR Review
- File Management/ Caseload Management
- File Verification
- Calculation of Cost of Attendance and Financial Need
- Packaging
- Calculation and Processing of Pell Grant Awards
- Awarding of Scholarships
- Verification of Enrollment Status, Academic Eligibility, and Loan Limits
- Report of Students Eligible for Disbursements
- Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4)
- Processing of Title IV Loans
- Reconciliation Tasks
- Collected, arranged, and input information into database system.
- Generated reports detailing findings and recommendations.
Financial Aid Advisor
University of St. Augustine for Health Science
09.2021 - 03.2023
- Conducts needs analysis in compliance with federal criteria to determine the relative eligibility of each financial aid applicant
- Conducts verification of student data in compliance with federal criteria
- Determines the types and amounts of financial aid to be awarded through the packaging process according to federal, and institutional requirements
- Monitors individual student awards
- Resolves data conflicts and over awards
- Makes necessary referrals to other student service offices
- Provides support to students experiencing family, personal or economic crises which may impact school performance
- Specific focus on working with special needs populations to identify unique needs and coordinate appropriate services
- Maintains appropriate documentation via data entry system
- Participates in annual training and professional organizations to keep abreast of new information and program changes to be implemented
- Counsel students/families on available funding options in accordance to their need's assessments
- Provide a generic overview of financial aid programs available to qualifying students
- Provide a thorough overview of financial aid and veterans' education benefits and military tuition assistance as necessary or refer the student/family to the proper subject matter expert
- Serve as a School Certifying Official for veterans' education benefits, including completion of required training
- Advise students/families on how to best locate information necessary to complete financial paperwork successfully and to meet any deadlines
- Guide students/families through financial aid paperwork to completion
- Counsel students on all matters related to financing their education as it relates to enrollment, satisfactory academic progress, leave of absences, etc., so that students maintain their aid
- Communicate with applicants/students/families via emails, and/or phone
- Direct students/families to proper offices for information when applicable
- Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the university as it relates to admissions, academic advising, registrar, financial aid, and enrollment so that students/families are directed to subject matter experts as appropriate
- Other duties as assigned
Senior Financial Aid Counselor
Huston- Tillotson University
03.2020 - 09.2021
- Advance knowledge of financial aid rules, regulations, and processes
- Ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
- Knowledge of supervisory practices
- Advise and counsel students and families on the financial aid process, unique circumstances for individual applicants, and options for funding a college education
- Lead individual team of frontline staff members
- Design and produce training programs for frontline staff members, enrollment management teams, and campus stakeholders
- Strategize and implement methods to raise client services to best practices and benchmarks
- Mentor financial aid counselors, frontline staff members, and student employees
- Oversee all aspects of the Satisfactory Academic Progress program, including review process after each semester, appeal processing, and training for appeals committee/academic advisors/department staff members/
- Make independent adjustments to a student's financial aid profile within federal and state regulations and the use of professional judgement
- Calculation of Return to Title IV
- Show competency in institutional and Federal policies and procedures to assist in compliance with Federal regulations
- Manage federal loan related records in COD using EdConnect
- Certify and disburse private loan applications
- Track progress to ensure that funds arrive as requested
- Process, originate and disburse Federal PLUS Loans, Pell Grant, Teach Grant and FSEOG
- Process student loan programs ensuring compliance regarding timely origination, certification, notification, disbursement, and returns of Title IV
- Work with systems specialists to create new selection sets and reports as needed
- Perform quality assurance of work completed
Financial Aid Counselor II
Johnson C. Smith University
11.2018 - 03.2020
- Assist in the review and verification of the FAFSA results and supporting documents for accuracy and conflicting information utilizing the verification tools provided by FAS systems
- Determine Title IV eligibility including awarding of aid and determining Pell Grant amounts
- Show competency in institutional and Federal policies and procedures to assist in compliance with Federal regulations
- Review disbursement calendar timeline
- Verify loan eligibility for students and parents by checking grade level and dependency status, reviewing PowerFAIDS system, calculations, and historical records with National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS); and process any necessary adjustments and notify student
- Originate and reconcile federal Direct Loans through the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system
- Manage federal loan related records in COD using EdConnect
- Certify and disburse private loan applications
- Track progress to ensure that funds arrive as requested
- Process, originate and disburse Federal PLUS Loans, Pell Grant, Teach Grant and FSEOG
- Process student loan programs ensuring compliance with regard to timely origination, certification, notification, disbursement, returns and reconciliation
- Use the National Student Loan Data System for access to reports and student information
- Verify federal aid totals to ensure students are not over-awarded
- Work with systems specialists to create new selection sets and reports as needed
- Regularly review all pending aid in PowerFAIDS and student information system to ensure all aid is disbursed in a timely manner and cancelled aid is removed
- Process additional unsubsidized federal loan funds for students whose parents are denied Federal PLUS loan and send notification to students
Financial Aid Specialist
Benedict College Financial Aid
11.2015 - 11.2018
- Package, award, and distribute federal and state financial aid resources to eligible students in accordance with all federal and state rules and regulations
- Administer Return to Title IV regulations
- This includes counseling students, calculating financial liabilities, monitoring attendance, and reporting liabilities to students, Business Office, and the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
- Administer the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, including certification, transmission, entrance and exit counseling, and default management
- Assist in administering federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid programs
- Advise prospective students, continuing students, and parents regarding financial aid application procedures, eligibility requirements, college policies, and availability of federal, state, local, and institutional financial aid
- Use independent professional judgment to advise stakeholders by instructing and interpreting information and deliver the most equitable outcome for the student
- Assist in maintaining system set-ups that pertain to financial aid
- Assist in the review and verification of the FAFSA results and supporting documents for accuracy and conflicting information utilizing the verification tools
- Determine Title IV eligibility including awarding of aid and determining Pell Grant amounts
- Perform quality assurance of work completed
Education
BS - Business Administration And Management
Benedict College
Columbia, SC12.2015
Skills
- Project Management
- Project Analysis
- Research and Development
- Strong Leadership Abilities
- Financial Planning
- Performance Assessment and Improvement
- Project Implementation
- Student Needs Assessments
- Liaison management
- Federal Student Aid Regulations
- Stakeholder/ Client/ Customer Support
- Federal Aid Coordination
- Crisis Counseling
- Data Integrity
- Quality Assurance
Affiliations
Southern Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators (SASFAA)
South Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators (SCASFAA)
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
(NASFAA)
School Certifying Official (SCO) for Veterans Affairs.
Satisfactory Academic Progression Committee (2020- 2021)
Federal Work-Study Coordinator (2020-2021)
Scholarship Coordinator (2019- 2020)
Additional Information
Microsoft Office Suite
PowerFaids
Powercampus
Jenzabar
Campusnexus/Anthology
Poised-SkyLite
EDexpress
FAA Access
COD
NSLDS
Elm
Timeline
Senior Associate Consultant
Financial Aid Services Inc.
03.2023 - Current
Financial Aid Advisor
University of St. Augustine for Health Science
09.2021 - 03.2023
Senior Financial Aid Consultant
Higher Education Assistance Group, Inc.
03.2020 - 10.2023
Senior Financial Aid Counselor
Huston- Tillotson University
03.2020 - 09.2021
Financial Aid Counselor II
Johnson C. Smith University
11.2018 - 03.2020
Financial Aid Specialist
Benedict College Financial Aid
11.2015 - 11.2018
BS - Business Administration And Management
Benedict College
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