THE EVOLVING REGISTRAR’S OFFICE Bruce W. Cunningham Assistant Vice Provost and University Registrar Duke University 2015 SACRAO Annual Meeting Mobile, Alabama

A Little History – Where Did it All Start? Twelfth Century Europe – Bedel or Beadle (Herald) ▫“An official to proclaim messages and execute the mandates of the authorities.” (Quann) ▫Bologna (Italy), Paris (France), Oxford (England) First use of the term Registrar was in 1446 at Oxford ▫Give form and permanence to university’s acts ▫Draft its letters ▫Make copies of documents ▫Register names of graduates

A Little History – Where Did it All Start? United Sates ▫One of the first administrative officers to become a specialist - Positions created prior to deans, bursars, etc. ▫Part-time faculty member at Harvard until mid-19 th century ▫1891 – Stanford opened with a full-time Registrar, 2 nd in command to the President ▫Duke – First full-time Registrar hired in 1996!!

A Little History – Where Did it All Start? AAU ▫1880 – 10 percent of AAU institutions had registrars ▫1890 – 25 percent of AAU institutions had registrars ▫1900 – 42 percent of AAU institutions had registrars ▫1910 – 76 percent of AAU institutions had registrars AACRAO ▫Formed as AACR, American Association of Collegiate Registrars, in 1910 ▫1949 – added “and Admissions Officers,” to become AACRAO

A Little History – Where Did it All Start? Explosion of enrollments related to the GI Bill after WW II led to expansion of administrative positions, including Financial Aid Officers and continued growth of Admissions as a separate office ▫Separate Admissions offices had been around at some schools, but not many until the GI Bill

Early Responsibilities Care for student records Official communications between students and academic committees Prepared official publications Central bureau of information about the academic work of the institution Admissions actions Awarding of scholarships and financial aid Orientation Advising Schedule classes Analysis of data/teaching loads., etc.

Who Are Our Constituents? Students (and their parents!) Faculty Academic department staff Fellow administrators Alumni External entities ▫Employers ▫Government ▫Loan agencies

Where Do We Report? Academic Affairs Student Affairs Enrollment Management/Services Administrative Services Financial Services

Where Do We Report? AAU Survey ▫2002 – 46 respondents  25 (55%)Academic Affairs  13 (28%)Student Affairs  8 (17%)Other (EM, Administrative, Finance) ▫ respondents  23 (43%)Academic Affairs  13 (24%)Student Affairs  12 (22%)Enrollment Management  6 (11%)Other (Administrative, Finance)

Where SHOULD We Report? Academic Affairs!! Why? ▫Faculty are important constituents – just as important as students ▫Almost everything we do involves academics ▫Faculty will accept us more as colleagues if we all report up the same ladder ▫More influence on academic policy if we are part of the academic community

What About Enrollment Management? Enrollment Management often reports to the academic side, and is a contributor to the academic mission of the institution Sometimes Enrollment Management reports directly to President Enrollment Managers can sometimes lose sight of the academic mission – it’s not all about numbers Ultimately, Enrollment Management is an academic exercise – the goal is to manage enrollments and get the best possible fit between student and institution

Background Needed to Be a Registrar Educational Background ▫Degree in Registraring (???) ▫Master’s Degree in College Student Personnel, Higher Education Administration, etc. Doctorate in the same fields can prove advantageous, though few schools require a Doctorate ▫Technology? ▫Registrars have a variety of educational backgrounds

Background Needed to Be a Registrar Educational Background ▫AAU (2002)  Doctorate16 (26%)  Masters34 (56%)  JD 4(7%)  Bachelors 7(11%) ▫AAU (2008)  Doctorate13 (22%)  Masters32 (53%)  JD 4(7%)  Bachelors 11(18%)

Background Needed to Be a Registrar Work Experience ▫Progressively more responsible positions within Higher Education, preferably in a Registrar’s Office ▫Variety of institutional types and sizes ▫Supervisory experience

Skills Needed to Be a Registrar Skills/Knowledge ▫Understanding of Higher Education ▫Academic point of view ▫Reporting/data management skills ▫Knowledge of systems ▫Service orientation ▫Budget management

What Does a Registrar Do Today? Registration management Enrollment management Grade posting Transcripts Enrollment certifications Course scheduling Classroom scheduling Classroom management Degree certifications Manage data bases and system implementations Establish security policies

What Does a Registrar Do Today? Bulletin production – printed vs. on-line Commencement management Degree/auditing and posting Retention tracking Calendar management Veterans’ benefits Athletic eligibility Transfer credit processing and posting Institutional Research Residency determination FERPA Coordinator

What Does a Registrar Do Today? Academic policy process development ▫Participate in development of academic policy ▫Manage academic policy ▫Evaluate academic policy ▫Inform students, faculty, and others about academic policy ▫Interpret and enforce academic policy

What Does All of This Have in Common? Administration of the academic enterprise ▫Almost everything we do involves some aspect of the academic mission of the institution ▫We are service providers, in support of the academic enterprise

Our Role in the Academic Policy Continuum We interpret and enforce academic policies, but are also involved in the establishment and evaluation of these policies We are in a unique position to know… ▫The needs of the faculty and of the students ▫How a policy might affect students and faculty ▫If a policy can be carried out/enforced

How Can We Impact Policy Decisions? Establish ourselves as knowledgeable academicians ▫Study higher education ▫Know the history of policies at your institution - Why, When, How? ▫Know best practices in the profession (Participate in the “CRAOs”) ▫Evaluate the impacts of a specific policy – current, as well as proposed – use the data!

How Can We Impact Policy Decisions? Get to know the academic side of the institution ▫Learn about and meet faculty (Helps to have a faculty member as a reference) ▫Look for new opportunities for learning about the needs of the institution, both within and outside the office

How Can We Impact Policy Decisions? Get involved in academic decision making ▫Be proactive ▫Raise issues – don’t just deal with the ones that come to us ▫Provide useful data as part of the decision making process – get folks to realize the data is available and useful in decision making

How Can We Impact Policy Decisions? Committee work ▫Welcome committee work ▫Committee membership and leadership is part of our role ▫Ask to be placed on committees related to the academic enterprise ▫Even junior staff members can get involved

What’s on the Horizon? Most of what we do now – we might do it differently, but we will still do it ▫Different service models  One stop  On-line  Self service  Expanded/enhanced transcripts  Use of external service providers  Use of cloud based and hosted solutions  Managing services, instead of providing them?

What’s on the Horizon? Most of what we do now – we might do it differently, but we will still do it ▫Different educational delivery models  On-line, hybrid, flipped  MOOCs  Impact on traditional time periods – will semesters still exist in the future?  New accreditation models?  International campuses

What’s on the Horizon? New Tasks ▫Competency-based education – impact on academic record keeping ▫Prior learning assessment ▫Assessment, evaluations, etc.

What’s on the Horizon? How we work ▫Flexibility in the workplace – hours, working from home, working from a distance ▫Staff background  As we’ve moved from data entry to managing processes do we need a different type of staff?  Is a Bachelor’s degree required for “front line” staff?  Technological skills ▫The future of one stop models

Has Our Role Changed Over the Years? Compliance, compliance, compliance! Added emphasis on systems, data, and enrollment management – data management vs. data entry 24/7 accessibility – I want an answer now! Use of external vendors to provide services ▫Transcript processing ▫Call centers ▫ERPs vs. home grown systems Internationalization Different instructional delivery methods Different ways to assess and report learning

Has Our Role Changed Over the Years? ▫Still, though, support of the academic enterprise remains the number one function of the Registrar

Our Role in the Academic Enterprise “The registrar’s office encompasses a broad range of services and systems central to the core functions of the institution. Full advantage should be taken of this position to influence and direct policy decisions….. The registrar is perfectly positioned to provide leadership in this endeavor – to be a bridge between the wants and needs of students and the demands and concerns of faculty.” (Schipporeit, AACRAO Registrar’s Guide, 2006)