Criswell with his wife Cassandra, daughter Kierstin, and son Jett.
Courtesy | Jimmy Criswell

Jimmy Criswell officially took on the role as Hillsdale’s director of financial aid this month, after working at various academic institutions for over 18 years.

Criswell trained under former director of financial aid Rich Moeggenberg for the last six months. After working in financial aid for 21 years, Moeggenberg took over as the director of Hayden Park.

“I don’t know how much change that I want to make to this role, because Mr. Moeggenberg had such a fantastic relationship with students, with other staff, all the administrators, and so I really wish to carry that forward,” Criswell said.

Criswell started his career in the jewelry business in Cedar Hill, Texas, working for Baca Manufacturing Jewelers, Inc. through a high school program.

“I did not end up in financial aid with a plan, per se,” Criswell said. “I started off in the jewelry industry. I worked for a small jewelry shop in a high school cooperative education program. I got off a couple of hours early every day, and worked on that as a polisher. I worked at that same jewelry store for a while. I began to repair jewelry while I continued my education at community college for just a short period.”

Criswell said he has fond memories of working with clients and fashioning accessories. 

“My time in the jewelry store was very good. I got to work with my hands and see the value in that,” Criswell said. “It was helpful primarily in developing customer relationships, because we repaired and sold our jewelry. So I would meet with people, size their rings, repair their bracelets, and then sell them different kinds of jewelry.”

Criswell credits his work in the jewelry business with building his character.

“I learned perseverance, because jewelry is a very cyclical business, so you do a lot of your time in the winter months leading up until Christmas,” Criswell said. “During that season, I was starting days at 8 a.m. and working until 3 a.m. the next morning. That’s where I really learned and valued work ethic.”

After finishing his studies in business administration at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, however, Criswell decided it was time to find a different job.

“I realized that I needed stable work that also had benefits, interest, insurance, etc.,” Criswell said.  

Criswell said a friend working in financial aid at a different institution recommended him for a role at The Art Institute of Dallas, where he started in 2006. Criswell later landed a job in the financial aid office of Dallas Baptist University, which he said was providential.

“Each time that I’ve had a transition in life where I’ve moved jobs, it’s been followed or preceeded with a night of prayer and asking for direction from the Lord,” Criswell said. “When I got the offer to join financial aid at Dallas Baptist University, I asked the Lord for guidance. They were looking for someone to lead the department, and they were planning on promoting me to assistant vice president in two years. That was what prompted me to take the position.”

The next time he prayed about his work, he heard about a job at Criswell College — no relation to Criswell himself.

“It wasn’t playing out how I saw fit, so I just prayed about it, and I got a call from the VP of admissions at the time at Criswell College,” Criswell said. “Initially, I didn’t know it was a recruiting call. He said, ‘Do you know anybody that’s looking to be a director in financial aid?’ I had already been a director. I finally realized he was directly asking me to apply for the position. I did, and I landed there and was there for just over nine years.”

Criswell said there was little in the future for the college and that he saw Hillsdale as a college with more promise.

“There wasn’t a lot of growth enrollment, and the future just did not look incredibly bright,” Criswell said. “There was not 100% missional alignment as well. And I said, ‘Okay, that’s interesting,’ because I had been praying, ‘Lord, show me what I’m supposed to do next.’ After a lot of praying, I accepted the position. And the reason I did it is just because Hillsdale is a beacon of light.”

Criswell said the greatest lesson he learned in his career is to make prayer a habit with God.

“I think what has helped me the most is prayer time,” Criswell said.“I will just outright admit I’ve not always been the best about spending as much time in his word. When something comes up, whether it’s of big importance or little importance, I’m just asking for his guidance and his direction.”

Criswell said he wants to continue Moeggenberg’s legacy with the students. He also said he wants to digitize Hillsdale’s records.

“I do think we have opportunity for process improvements, mainly just with digital use and electronic file attribution,” Criswell said.

Financial Aid Counselor and Loan Manager Joshua Henning said Criswell’s experience has brought new ideas to the department.

“He’s very open with communication and likes everyone to feel like they have a voice,” Henning said. “I think he brings a fresh outside look. Because he’s worked with other colleges, he has input from how he’s done things with other organizations. He has a lot of different takes on things he wants to see improved. I think there will be a lot more attention focused on need-based kids, as opposed to in the past.”

Assistant Director of Financial Aid Iona Kopp said Criswell is improving technology use at Hillsdale.

“We started moving to Self Service. I think he’ll be able to help us improve much of that process,” Kopp said. “I sometimes feel that Hillsdale has been a little behind the eight ball, though, when it comes to technology, so I think he’s definitely wanting to move forward in the technology area.”

Kopp said Criswell has fostered a good environment in the financial aid department.

“He is really team oriented, and not really looking to change the atmosphere, just looking for all of us to use our abilities, to expand further in what we can do,” Kopp said. “He definitely has talked about us being cross-trained so that way we can achieve our main goal to be here for the students, and for the parents.”