90 Years Later: Reflections on the Registrar: A Profession

In 1926, the annual meeting of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars (Admissions Officers wasn't added until 1949) was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lotus Delta Coffman, then president of the University of Minnesota, addressed the attendees. His talk, Registrar: A Profession, was reprinted in the Bulletin of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars (the precursor to College and University). Coffman discussed his view of the function of the registrar in a previous generation, what it had become by 1926, and what it would become in the future. Historically, he argued, the position of registrar was a glorified clerkship, chiefly responsible for keeping an accurate record of grades, without control over when they were received or the form in which they were submitted. The registrar was not involved in the determination of academic policies. Because he was not a scholar, the registrar had no standing with the faculty; his standing with the administration had its basis in the reporting of enrollment data.By 1926, the higher education landscape had changed. There were more institutions and more students than before, and costs of attendance were higher. There was, Coffman reported, a conflict between those who viewed the growth as favorable-a democratizing influence on the country-and those who viewed it as indicative of the relaxation of standards. This conflict had a direct bearing on the position of the registrar, bringing new responsibilities and opportunities, including the assumption of roles served previously by committees of the faculty, particularly with regard to the evaluation of credits from other institutions and the interpretation of academic policies. In a sense, Coffman pointed out, the registrar sits at the center of the university's administrative life and interacts with students as well as faculty. The registrar, having information on the historical performance of students, is in a strategic position to provide facts. Not only providing facts but also anticipating questions that will arise make the registrar an institutional leader.Coffman called on registrars to rise to a new level to support the needs of their institutions. The registrarmust he one of the chief educational officers of the institution. He must not he a follower-he must he a leader. He must not merely do that which the faculty may wish him to do-he must point out to the faculty the way in which it should go. From the standpoint of ability, insight, and leadership, he must be fully the equal of the leading members of the faculty. He must and his office (Coffman, p. 166).Coffman closed by declaring that the registrar profession become a profession equal in dignity and standing and worth to the other professions of the university (Coffman, p. 166).A PERSONAL REFLECTIONThere are those in our profession who perceive that the role of the registrar has been diminished in recent years. I've spoken with enough to believe that is the case at some institutions. I also know registrars who are recognized as leaders at their institutions and who are at the core of many campus initiatives. They are among the chief education officers of their institutions. In Coffman's words, they exalt and magnify their offices.You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge (Pirsig 1999, pp. 160-161).I began my career in the registrar's office in 1974 at the University of Minnesota. My responsibilities included handwriting transcripts (I still have my electric eraser) and collecting the 8o-column cards used in registration. For many of my 2.2 years at Minnesota, I worked on the development of student information systems-not the erps most of us use today but the so-called or legacy systems (or, as one of my IT colleagues at Boston University, which still uses a homegrown student information system, calls them, professionally developed local systems). …