Financial Aid Counsellor

Department: Student Financial Services
This position is represented by the agreement between the Professional Staff Association and the University of Guelph

If you are a current employee of the University of Guelph you must apply on the internal Career Page in order to be considered as an internal applicant.
Career Opportunities (sapsf.com)

General Purpose

Reporting to the Assistant Registrar, Student Awards & Financial Aid, the Financial Aid Counsellor provides comprehensive and confidential financial counselling and advising to 28,000 graduate, undergraduate, and diploma students, as well as prospective undergraduate students. The incumbent must demonstrate creative solutions to meet Guelph’s guarantee to an accessible university education by leveraging all financial aid sources, expertise, and knowledge that includes, but is not limited to, government aid programs, institutional aid programs, social service programs, and private loans and lines of credits. The incumbent must be knowledgeable in academic policies and procedures as these directly impact students’ abilities to access financial aid programs.

The Financial Aid Counsellor is responsible for the administration of more than 19,000 government aid program applications including the Canada Student Loan program, and each unique provincial and territorial student aid programs as well as the U.S. loan program through the U.S. Department of Education. These programs provide over $170 million dollars in student loans and grants. The Financial Aid counsellors are responsible to meet all fiduciary and audit requirements.

Duties and Responsibilities

This position plays a key role by proactively identifying changes made by government aid programs that directly impact students’ financial situations and implements strategies and new programs to mitigate possible negative effects. Students will seek out the Financial Aid counsellor to discuss difficult, sensitive, and unique financial situations. The incumbent acts on behalf of the Ministry and is responsible for all government aid appeals; accepts, reviews and approves or denies students’ requests for appeals and will work with students to ensure appeal files are complete and accurate. The incumbent liaises with Student Accessibility Services to advise and explain OSAP policy and procedures in order to deliver the BSWD/CSG-PDSE to ensure students with financial need meet their disability-related educational costs.

This position has supervisory responsibility to three Service Assistants on issues dealing with government aid processes: providing coaching, training and operational assignments of the team on the main campus and is the first point of contact for financial aid staff at the University of Guelph-Humber.

The incumbent participates in recruitment activities such as Fall Preview Days, Campus Days, and the Ontario Universities’ Fair and other events as required to share information to perspective students for all financial need programs available to fund their university education

The incumbent advocates and represents the interests of the University of Guelph and Guelph-Humber students with the Ontario Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA) and the Canadian Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (CASFAA).

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree with five (5) years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Knowledge of Colleague, the student information system, WebAdvisor, MTCU’s AS400 and One-key with a preference given to applicants who have experience using these applications.
• Knowledge of academic policies and procedures, financial aid policies and procedures, with preference given to applicants who have experience with student account and government aid policies and procedures.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to deal with difficult situations, maintain a high level of confidentiality, sound judgement, and dependability, tact and diplomacy.
• Detailed oriented and analytical with demonstrated problem-solving skills and initiative.
• Highly organized with excellent time management and proven stress management skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-volume environment with constant interruptions.
• Strong computer competency using the Microsoft Office Suite.

Must be available to travel and work occasional evenings and weekends.

Employee Type: Regular
Position Number: 10443021
Classification: P&M FT- Band 05
Professional/Managerial Salary Bands
The target hiring salary for this position is minimum and up to 96% of midpoint for the salary grade.

At the University of Guelph, fostering a culture of inclusion is an institutional imperative. The University invites and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in employment, who may contribute to further diversification of our Institution.

Posting Date: 06/13/2025
Closing Date: 06/24/2025