The Assistant Finance Specialist works closely with the Finance and Administration team and graduate administrators to assist in the critical function of maintaining graduate student support for over 3,000 students in 42 departments and programs. This customer service-oriented position requires excellent communication skills in working as a point of contact for frequently asked Labor Accounting and graduate payment questions. The position relies heavily on the willingness to learn new systems quickly and the ability to understand their integration. The role will require intensive usage of a complex labor accounting system and a custom database tracking system used by the Graduate School to record and review graduate student support. It also requires excellent attention to detail to validate financial support across the various systems and to generate fellowship reports for departments. In addition, the role will be responsible for frequently recurring processes including the reconciling of enrollment statuses, recording of internship participation, interpretation of exception reports, confirmation of work authorization, the issuance of departmental communications, and the annual generation of financial support letters and periodic review of Graduate School publications.

Assist with the conversion of historical data from legacy Access database to the Graduate Fellowship Tracking System (gFTS). Validate past and present financial support entered for each term by comparing the gFTS data to archived rosters of internal and external fellowships, incentives, and funding programs recipients. In preparation for each new funding year, assist in the determination of eligibility for fellowships and incentives and in the review of applications for funding programs. Reconcile external fellowship support in the gFTS system with the support in LA, input currency conversion rates into gFTS and LA, assist in the preparation of NSF reports to departments and upload external fellowship letters to the OnBase document storage system. Prepare and distribute reports to departments showing students with internal and/or external awards. Assist in the annual reconciliation of the gFTS database to Labor Accounting (LA), the source of record for graduate student financial support.

Become proficient in the Labor Accounting system, the University's labor expense distribution system. Field standard questions from Graduate Program Administrators (GPAs) about graduate student support in LA, addressing basic changes in financial support such as syncing the Course Information System (CIS) to coordinating Assistantship in Instruction support, adding a new commitment or a change in earnings code, splitting periods for a commitment or distribution change, and addressing other coordination issues. Participate in LA labs/open work sessions for GPAs.

Track daily changes to enrollment statuses, particularly as they relate to graduate student support and enrollment projections. Ensure that student status changes are transferred properly between the various University systems for correct processing of graduate student pay and billing. Utilize exception reports and other tools to efficiently manage the data.

Record funding program participation, incentives, internal and external fellowship awards and for newly admitted students and returning graduate students. Communicate information to departments for validation of monthly support and funding projections. Assist department and program administrators with the upload of graduate fellowship awards to the Roster Intake System and facilitate with the verification of recipients' eligibility.

In the External Opportunity System, prepare rosters of all internships to be sent to departments each term. Send out reminder emails to GPAs to make any necessary changes in LA for internships. Assist in annual reporting of internships.

Additional systems support: In Service Now, assist in the annual review of Knowledge Base articles for the Finance and Administration group. Address financial support-related questions received through Service Now and, when necessary, refer questions to appropriate personnel. For SAFE (Student Activities Funding Engine), serve as the administrative contact for the graduate funding activities, fielding any questions from students, department administrators, and faculty who are applying, managing or providing recommendations for student projects.

Bachelor’s degree and 3 + years of related experience.

Excellent organizational skills; exceptional attention to detail and problem-solving abilities

Demonstrates interpersonal competency with a customer-service focus

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Ability to learn new systems and technology quickly and effectively Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft Excel

Preferred

Knowledge of labor accounting and payroll systems

Experience in an academic setting Proficiency in On Base

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. EEO IS THE LAW

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