Scholarship & Stewardship Administrator

USF Advancement connects the university with donors who want to make a difference by providing philanthropic support to promote student success, research, academic excellence and other strategic priorities. With an endowment that now exceeds $700 million in value, our dedicated team of approximately 200 professionals, including 60 fundraisers, encompasses alumni, development and foundation operations. The team is responsible for raising more than $150 million annually and has broken records year after year with more than $184 million raised in fiscal year 2025.

The Scholarship & Stewardship Officer plays a crucial role in managing the advertising, awarding, and stewardship of USF Foundation Scholarships. This position is responsible for organizing, coordinating, and executing the scholarship review process through various scholarship committees, ensuring scholarships are awarded in compliance with donor intent and in compliance with USF policies and procedures, applicable laws, and regulations. Additionally, this position is responsible for serving as a liaison with the Office of Financial Aid and college/campus/unit fund administrators, Foundation Development Teams, Faculty, Staff and Deans.

Employees of USF Advancement live out the values of responsibility, innovation, service, and excellence in each of its highly collaborative departments. We use trusted data and ethical AI to enhance decision-making, strengthen engagement, and enable our teams to focus on what matters most: relationships and impact.

Scholarship Administration
• Advertise scholarship funds & raise awareness about scholarship opportunities among students, faculty, and staff.
• Respond to student, faculty, staff inquiries regarding private scholarships
• Organize, coordinate and execute review of applicants via various scholarship committees within the colleges and units 
• Create spending plans & award funds according to donor intent
• Confirm disbursement of funding & reconcile funds
• Communicate with students to secure requirements for fund disbursement and renewal

Stewardship Initiatives
• Stewardship of scholarship donors through the collection and distribution of thank you letters & ThankView video campaigns 
• Organization of donor/scholarship recipient meetings
• Implement new enhanced donor stewardship initiatives
• Collaborate with development teams to identify high priority stewardship needs
• Create a culture of philanthropy amongst students

Reporting, Data and Fund Management
• Comprehensive review of all scholarships and funds purposes to assess awarding potential; submit forms to create new funds, add fund codes, update or close funds, reinvest funding, etc. 
• Review financial reports and analyze current fund utilization & develop plans to increase fund utilization; compile awarding statistics for leadership
• Utilize emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, to support data analysis, reporting, and process optimization related to scholarship awarding and fund utilization
• Assist with identifying opportunities to streamline workflows, improve data accuracy, and enhance reporting efficiency through the responsible use of AI tools

Additional Tasks
• Assist with various University events as a representative of Donor Services
• Participate in trainings to learn and stay current on best practices in scholarship administration, donor stewardship, reporting, fund utilization, and emerging technologies (including AI) to support process improvement and informed decision-making

 

This position requires a Bachelor's degree with at least 1 year of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified. Work experience may be substituted for the degree requirement on a year for year basis. Prefer a candidate with experience working in university advancement, scholarship administration, and/or donor relations or higher education. Experience with Microsoft Excel, Canva, financial systems, constituent management systems, Salesforce, scholarship management software, donor stewardship/reporting software is also preferred.

Degree Equivalency Clause: Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree.
• Senate Bill 1310- The Florida Senate (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1310) is conditional upon meeting all employment eligibility requirements in the U.S.
• SB 1310: Substitution of Work Experience for Postsecondary Education Requirements
• A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of years of direct experience required, not to exceed:
• (a) Two years of direct experience for an associate degree;
• (b) Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree;
• (c) Six years of direct experience for a master’s degree;
• (d) Seven years of direct experience for a professional degree; or
• (e) Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree
• Related work experience may not substitute for any required licensure, certification, or registration required for the position of employment as established by the public employer and indicated in the advertised description of the position of employment.
• Minimum Qualifications that require a high school diploma are exempt from SB 1310.