History shows that the position of the Registrar has largely been reactive. Registrars are consummate problem solvers and their abilities to help fight fires are well known across the institution. There is a place and a space for that and we don’t want to remove all of this ability. What we will highlight in this session is the role of the Registrar beyond custodian - a future forward vision that embraces technology and change, drives proactive models, and draws from high value business practice in regards to excellent customer service frameworks and models - using tools such as design thinking in an agile environment.

The forward-thinking university understands that the position of Registrar must grow to accommodate the changing world of higher education. Not only does the thought process of the registrar need to change, but university support structures must also adjust. If the university assigns and measures a narrow sphere of monitoring enrollment, registration, grades, degree progress, and graduation, then that is likely all the Registrar’s office will focus on to maintain success. It is up to the institution to broaden the scope of the Registrar’s office by empowering the office; giving authority and responsibility on each desired goal.

The Registrar can assist the university to see how the institutional structure can support the Registrar in Tomorrow Land. Key components of this include adding the Registrar on institutional decision making teams, looking at data through the lens of the Registrar, reviewing job descriptions to focus less on transactions and more on innovation and assessment outcomes, encourage relationships across campus with more proactive activities, and use design thinking tools to bring teams together across campus to streamline processes.

Submission ID:

T4.1602

Day:

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Time: 

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM