The Financial Services Department, one of Washburn’s most important departments to students, has had a shift in leadership. Dawn Bowman, an esteemed member of Washburn’s faculty of five years, was recently promoted to Associate Director of Financial Aid effective this fall. 

Bowman has previously worked in banking as a Trust Manager, and in 2010 she began working in Washburn’s financial aid offices as an Administrative Specialist. In 2015, she was promoted as the Processing Manager overseeing all financial aid processes.

Bowman was originally drawn to working at Washburn University due to the fact she grew up about an hour away from Topeka, and has many Washburn Alumni family members.

“I have heard about Washburn my whole life,” said Bowman about her personal connections at Washburn. “When I moved back to the area, I thought Washburn would be a good place to work and luck would have it, a position was open in the financial aid department.”

Bowman’s new position as Associate Director means that she will be responsible for implementing the application of federal, state and University regulations, as well as guidelines and requirements for the Federal Direct Loan Program, Alternative Loan Program, Federal Grant Program and Satisfactory Academic Progress.

“The Associate Director position requires someone who has a strong commitment to serving students,” said Kandance Mars, the Director of Financial Aid, who will help oversee Bowman’s new position. “[Someone who] knows how to break down information about financial aid in a way that’s easy to understand, has an in-depth understanding of federal regulations and financial aid processes, excellent problem solving skills, is able to multitask and can look at our practices from both a student and compliance prospective to identify improvements that can be made.”

Bowman will also be in charge of evaluating and developing improvements to financial aid processes and practices. She will also monitor the Processing Unit to assess the accuracy of completion and regulation of several federal and state requirements.

Mars spoke very highly of her confidence in Bowman’s new role: “Her skills and background make her a tremendous asset to the Financial Aid Office. I’m excited to see all that she will accomplish in this new role.”