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James J. Brooks

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

November 2008  – Present
Director
Office of Student Financial Aid
University of Missouri - Columbia

• Manage all aspects of the Office of Student Financial Aid. Responsible for compliance in awarding of federal, state, institutional and private financial aid; Serve on the State Student Financial Aid Committee; Work closely with other Enrollment Management units to develop an awarding strategy that assists the university in meeting enrollment goals.

April 1999 – Otcober 2008
Senior Associate Director – Systems, Grants, Scholarship Processing
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Indiana University Bloomington

• Worked with the Director of Financial Aid and other staff in the creation of new need based grant programs for resident students; Worked on ensuring that FA systems are compliant; Responsible for federal, state and institutional grant programs; Served as part of the Student Information System (SIS) Project Financial Aid Team. Team was responsible for researching, and implementing the PeopleSoft (PS) Financial Aid (FA) module; Served as part of the SIS Project Core Team, and as part of the 9.0 upgrade lead team. Continue to serve as a member of the post upgrade SIS Leads Team; Responsible for the technical aspects of auditing the legacy financial aid system before PS implementation, and PS transactions after implementation

 January 1998 – April 1999
Associate Director - Systems
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Indiana University Bloomington

• Responsible for managing the Systems area of the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA); Liaison with University Information and Technological Services (UITS), the office overseeing technology for the institution; Assisted with system development orders for the FAMS; Testing the annual updates to the FAMS to ensure compliance with federal regulations; Worked closely with the Office of Admissions and Research Planning (formerly the Office of Institutional Research), in data review of financial aid data used for enrollment modeling and retention analysis.

March 1991 – January 1998
Assistant Director for Systems
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Indiana University Bloomington

• Directly handled hardware and software support for 60 users; Handled administration of user accounts and printers on a Netware server; Responsible for day to day activities of the DL program, and reconciliation of the program; Completely redesigned the OSFA public website; Managed the Federal Quality Assurance Program for the campus; Managed an early awarding pilot program (Project EASE) for the campus in collaboration with the Office of Admissions.

August 1988 – March 1991
Assistant Director for Client Services
Office of Student Financial Assistance
Indiana University Bloomington

• Assisted with student counseling both in person and over the telephone; Assisted with new staff training; Made presentations on financial aid at Office of Admissions Freshman Forums; Presented financial aid information at high school nights; Presented at the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association High School Guidance Counselor workshops.
  

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2008-2009 MASFAA President-Elect – Serve as an officer in the association, supporting the current MASFAA President, and filling in for the President when necessary.

2008-2009 NASFAA Board Member – Serve as an observer on the NASFAA Board, attending meetings, and contributing to discussion on items that affect the professional at a national level.

2008-2009 NASFAA Training and Professional Development Committee  – This committee is charged with fostering the development and coordination of comprehensive training activities at the state, regional, and national levels.

2008-2009 MASFAA Finance Committee – Serve as a member of this committee, whose responsibilities including monitoring the MASFAA annual budget, and reviewing the financial position of the organization.

April 2008 ISFAA Spring Conference, Columbus, IN
Co-presented a session with 2 other aid administrators titled “What Schools are Doing to Address Skyrocketing Student Loan Debt. We discussed what our institutions are doing with need based aid funding, and how we’re using it to reduce student borrowing.

2007-2008 MASFAA Treasurer – Serve as Treasurer for the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The Treasurer is part of the association’s Executive Council and is responsible for developing, distributing, and maintaining the financial records of the Association and the Executive Council, and performing transactions as directed by the Finance Committee.

2007-2008 MASFAA Finance Committee – Serve as a member of this committee, whose responsibilities including monitoring the MASFAA annual budget, and reviewing the financial position of the organization.

October 2007 Access to Success Conference, Indianapolis, IN
Co-presented a session titled “The Important Case for Need Based Financial Aid” with 4 other aid administrators where we discussed how our institutions are dealing with the potential struggle between merit and need based financial aid.

June 2007 to Present – NASFAA Standards of Excellence Peer Reviewer. Served as a member of a NASFAA SOE team reviewing another institution of higher education. These reviews serve as an objective and confidential peer review that assesses an institution’s delivery of financial aid.

2006-2007 MASFAA Treasurer-Elect – This position is part of the association’s Executive Council, and is responsible for the receipt of funds for the organization, giving updates to the Executive Council, and assisting the Treasurer with submission of a duly audited annual financial report.

EDUCATION

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
Master of Arts, 1987
Major: Sociology

Anderson College, Anderson, IN
Bachelor of Arts, 1985
Major: Sociology