In the first episode of For the Record, we discuss the position of the registrar, its place in higher education’s history, the evolution of the role and the way technology has influenced that evolution, and the many and varied responsibilities registrars are charged with.
Key Takeaways: The Registrar is a critical position within higher education institutions; Technology has changed and continues to change both the work that we do and the role that we play at our institutions; Registrars need to be leaders, managers, collaborators, as well as technically competent data stewards.
References / Links:
Duderstadt, J. J., Atkins, D. E., & Van Houweling, D. (2002). Higher Education in the Digital Age: Technology issues and strategies for American colleges and universities. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Geiger, R. (1999). Ten Generations of American Higher Education. In P.G. Altbach, R.O. Berdahl, and P.J. Gumport, (Eds.), American higher education in the twenty-first century : social, political, and economic challenges (pp. 38-69). Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.
Halfond, J.A. (1984). The history of higher education and the registrar’s changing role. College and University. 59(4): 351-356.
Lanier, D.C. (1995). The mission of the registrar today. College and University. 70(2): 64-71.
The Changing Roles of the Registrar – by Doug McKenna
AACRAO Publications on records and registration
Extra Credit Reading Section:
Higher Education in the Digital Age: Updated Edition (The William G. Bowen Series)
Research Universities and the Public Good, Jason Owen-Smith
In the first episode of For the Record, we discuss the position of the registrar, its place in higher education’s history, the evolution of the role and the way technology has influenced that evolution, and the many and varied responsibilities registrars are charged with.
Key Takeaways: The Registrar is a critical position within higher education institutions; Technology has changed and continues to change both the work that we do and the role that we play at our institutions; Registrars need to be leaders, managers, collaborators, as well as technically competent data stewards.
References / Links:
Duderstadt, J. J., Atkins, D. E., & Van Houweling, D. (2002). Higher Education in the Digital Age: Technology issues and strategies for American colleges and universities. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Geiger, R. (1999). Ten Generations of American Higher Education. In P.G. Altbach, R.O. Berdahl, and P.J. Gumport, (Eds.), American higher education in the twenty-first century : social, political, and economic challenges (pp. 38-69). Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.
Halfond, J.A. (1984). The history of higher education and the registrar’s changing role. College and University. 59(4): 351-356.
Lanier, D.C. (1995). The mission of the registrar today. College and University. 70(2): 64-71.
The Changing Roles of the Registrar – by Doug McKenna
AACRAO Publications on records and registration
Extra Credit Reading Section:
Higher Education in the Digital Age: Updated Edition (The William G. Bowen Series)
Research Universities and the Public Good, Jason Owen-Smith
You're listening to for the record or registrar podcast sponsored by AACRAO. I'm your host, Doug McKenna and this is episode one. What's a registrar? Anyway,
Speaker 2:[inaudible]. Hello, welcome. Thank you for listening to the very first episode of for the record for the record is a registrar
Speaker 1:podcast sponsored by acro. If you haven't had an opportunity to listen to the introductory episode, feel free to check that out. For more information about me, about acro and about the kinds of topics for the record is going to cover as the first official episode of a registrar's podcast. I felt like it was important to kick things off with some history about the registrar's office and an exploration of how we got where we are today, which I should acknowledge right from the start is a range of responsibilities and technical capacities. American higher education encompasses a wide variety of institution types and so obviously roles and responsibilities are also likely to vary. There isn't one way to be a registrar and there isn't one uniform set of responsibilities for all registrars. That is fun and exciting because it means that there's any enormous opportunity for collaboration and exchange of ideas between and among registrars. And that sharing is one of the goals of this podcast. So let's jump in. The registrar was the first administrative position created at a university after the president and we are all around general purpose administrators. The first time the title registrar appears is in 1446 at Oxford. No real surprise there. I have sources to site and I'll try to do that organically throughout, but I will also include official reference information as part of this episode's notes in the earliest periods of the development of higher education. The registrar did everything from taking attendance, collecting tuition, selling books, distributing financial aid, paying faculty, keeping the minutes of faculty meetings and making announcements in classrooms. So basically in the earliest days of the position, the registrar was responsible for an extremely wide variety of tasks. Registrar became a standard title for a full time administrator of academic records by the turn of the 20th century. And by the 1930s nearly every college or university had one. And today the primary mission of the registrar's office is to keep the academic records of the institution, including what courses are offered, when those courses are offered, who's teaching them, who's participating in them, and what grades students receive in them. And complimentary to the records. Maintenance and retention is the facilitation of the processes that enable those records to be created in the first place. Namely course scheduling, classrooms, scheduling and especially registration. Part of the joy for me about being a registrar is that almost no one knows what it is that I do. And so I thought it would be fun to ask some students to see if they know what a registrar is or does. And let's listen to a couple of responses.
Speaker 3:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:hi, I'm Francesca from Cranston Rhode Island. I am a second year graduate student and I am studying public administration and nonprofit management. Um, so what does the registrar do? The registrar's office controls, um, student records and then also, um, is uh, in control of student enrollment. Uh, my name is Jason. I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina and I'm a second year MTA masters student. What does the registrar do? I think[inaudible] hoping to translate kid of grades. Hi, I'm Sherry from Sandra Dawn, California. I'm a senior studying political science and economics. What does the registrar to believe it? A keep a record. Um, like transcripts and such. I am the Saya from New York city. I currently a senior, uh, I'm studying economics. What is the registrar do? I honestly have no idea. Something that, transcripts that verified that I go here.
Speaker 3:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:so they have a general sense that there's a record keeping function but registrars do a lot more than that. So let's look back in time a little bit and talk about how we got where we are. In 1983, J Helfand gave an address at the first summer workshop for new registrars sponsored by the new England association of collegiate registrars and admissions officers nee acro. That's a regional chapter of the national registrar's professional association in the address. How often asks quote like much of academic administration, the professionalization of the registrar has been far from complete. Are we clerks, professionals, technocrats posing these questions. In 1983 when the internet was in its infancy and a full 10 years before the first web browser was invented. Illustrates it how often understood how technology was going to affect the registrar's duties and how the office was to be viewed on campus. So how often deposits accurately as events since his address have demonstrated that the registrar will become an information specialist, privy to the trends that are occurring and the data that will be used to plan the future of the institution. He States quote in this new age, the registrar is not merely the careful keeper of the academic and faculty records or registration ringleader, but also the manager of data increasingly vital to institutional wellbeing. David linear writing 12 years later in acro, his college and university journal agrees with how views stating as a result of technology, the registration and records functions have become more automated and the registrar is becoming a data manager. Couple of things here. First is that episode three of for the record focuses on business intelligence. And if you get nothing else out of that episode, I want you to walk away knowing that the registrar is the steward of all student academic data. And second, I wrote a paper in my master's program about the history of the registrar's office and ways technology has driven the evolution of the office's responsibilities. And I will post a link if anyone's interested in reading it. Uh, as I was rereading it, preparing for this episode, I realized that it's a little dated, it was written in 2007 but the historical part is still valid. So the registrar's office is one of the few general purpose offices that works with this broad spectrum of people and thus is in the best position to coordinate campus wide projects like implementing web based systems for example. So just as technology has changed the way work is done in our offices, it has also changed the expectations of the students who are applying to an colleges and universities and students now expect to be able to interact with the school's administrative functions using technology. The registrar critically is a leader in the development of campus systems that tie the academic and administrative functions together and because of our long history with records management, we are the best source to validate the data that flows into and out of the system and therefore the registrar is a resource to all the various users of student information systems and this user pool extends beyond front end services to students and faculty and reaches into the upper levels of university administration.
Speaker 3:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:if it isn't already obvious, I think registrars are a big deal and I'm proud to be one, but even this focus on data management and being a resource for the future of our institutions isn't the whole story. Registrar's offices are service offices. We serve our students and our alums, yes, but we also serve our faculty, other students, services offices and the university administration. Customer service has to be at the heart of everything we do and I often find that we're doing our best work when we keep the focus on the student experience and providing outstanding customer service to our student body. In most cases, the registrar is the director of a team, so there's a human resources aspect to our position. One of leadership and staff development episode four of for the record will focus exclusively on performance management and I hope you'll find that conversation with some HR folks. Interesting and enlightening. I mentioned that we're the steward of student academic records. That's a foundational part of the job for me and in order to be effective stewards, we have to be well versed in the policies, rules, regulations and laws that govern the access and sharing of student data especially, but not only FERPA. Obviously we're going to talk about FERPA a lot throughout for the record, but we'll also look at other laws beyond[inaudible] that affect our work and the principles of privacy that should be considered when dealing with student data. So whenever I talk to people outside of higher ed about what I do, hi mom, I generally tell them that my job is split roughly into thirds. The first third is the technical part of the job. Understanding and engaging with technology so that I'm able to consistently and intentionally and strategically apply technology to administrative processes in order to improve the student experience. For me, this encompasses the student records management piece, but that might not be the case for you and that's okay. The second, third is the management. The people part. I have direct reports who need to be managed and I have staff who need to be developed and encouraged and with every team that are personalities and histories that make those tasks fun. It's like having a garden. Not all of your plants need a lot of sun. Not all of them need a lot of water and nobody gives you that information when you start in your position. A lot of it is figuring it out on the fly and rounding out the thirds is the salesmanship sales person ship part of the job representing the office across the institution, convincing other stakeholders to think of the registrar's office whenever students or student data is involved. Convincing faculty that we're here to help, not hinder. Convincing central it to remember the academic calendar when scheduling system maintenance, you know, little things. And that work requires a commitment to collaboration and relationship building across campus. In future episodes of, for the record, we're going to talk about building campus partnerships. So I think the message of this first episode is that registrars are pretty important positions within higher education and we're pretty amazing for all of the things that we do. And yeah, we have a lot to talk about. So I hope you found this first episode informative and maybe even a little entertaining, I don't know, high hopes. I hope that you'll listen to episode two, which we'll go into a lot more depth about the history of the student record. I would love to hear from you. Drop a line@registrarpodcastatgmail.com share the podcast with your colleagues and your staff. And don't forget to subscribe until next time. I'm Doug McKenna and this is for the record.
Speaker 2:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:[inaudible][inaudible].