University Registrar

As a nationally recognized public university, the College of Charleston invites applications for the position of University Registrar. Founded in 1770 and located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina, the College is one of the oldest universities in the nation and among the country’s top universities for quality education and student life. Its beautiful and historic campus, combined with contemporary facilities, cutting-edge programs, and prominent faculty, attracts students from across the U.S. and around the world.

More than 10,500 undergraduates and approximately 1,000 graduate students at the College enjoy a small-college atmosphere blended with the advantages and diversity of a mid-sized, urban university. Students work closely with a committed faculty of more than 500 distinguished teacher-scholars. The city of Charleston, in addition to being world-renowned for its history, architecture, culture and coastal environment, has over the past decade enjoyed rapid population growth, expanding industry, and a surge in development both downtown and in the greater Charleston area.

Position Summary

The University Registrar (hereafter “Registrar”) provides strategic leadership and direction for the Office of the Registrar and serves as the College’s custodian of academic records. The Registrar leads a dedicated team of professional and support staff, fostering a collaborative, student-centered, and service-oriented culture that supports students, faculty, and staff while advancing student success and the effective operation of the College’s academic and administrative functions. The Registrar ensures the integrity, accuracy, security, and responsible use of academic records and provides leadership for registrar-related systems, policies, processes, and services.

The Registrar works collaboratively across the institution and consults with the Office of the Provost on policy maintenance and reform. The position promotes a university-wide perspective and works effectively with students, faculty, administrators, governance bodies, and external organizations while keeping abreast of emerging practices in higher education.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and oversight for student registration, academic records, transcripts, degree verification, graduation and certification of baccalaureate degrees, and diploma production.
• Ensure the integrity, accuracy, security, confidentiality, and responsible use of academic records for current and former students, and establish policies and procedures governing their use.
• Maintain up-to-date course schedules, catalogs, and final examination schedules and manage the efficient use of classrooms and instructional space.
• Provide leadership and oversight for Banner Student, ancillary degree audit systems, and other software and technical tools used for academic records management, registration, reporting, and related services.
• Ensure coordinated communications and services for prospective and entering transfer students.
• Counsel and advise students, faculty, and staff on academic matters and interpret and help enforce policies and regulations of the College, including FERPA.
• Consult with the Office of the Provost on academic policies and procedures and work collaboratively with faculty committees, the Faculty Senate, and other campus partners on institutional initiatives.
• Provides leadership through supervising and evaluating staff while providing ongoing support and developmental feedback through team and individual contact and daily interactions.
• Serve in various capacities on College-wide committees, represent the Office of the Registrar with professional organizations, and maintain awareness of emerging practices and trends affecting registrar operations and higher education.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree plus five years or more of supervisory experience and evidence of progressive advancement, and higher education management experience in a registrar’s office.
• Demonstrated leadership, vision, analytical, and management skills to ensure exceptional student services while upholding the academic policies and regulations of the College and safeguarding the integrity and security of academic records.
• Strategic and collaborative leadership skills with the ability to modernize enrollment, records management, data governance, and student-success efforts while establishing and fostering a student-centered culture of service excellence within the Office of the Registrar.
• Ability to serve as a campus resource on federal and state regulations, including FERPA compliance and other policies relevant to the protection of student data, confidentiality, records integrity, and data security.
• Technological sophistication, including experience with cloud-based enterprise systems and technical expertise managing a complex administrative database. Demonstrated experience with OCR (optical Character Recognition), Ellucian Banner, specifically Banner Student (or a similar database), Degree Works (or a similar degree audit system), e-transcripts, and COGNOS (or a similar reporting tool) is required. Proficiency in MS Office applications is expected.
• Ability to maintain professional rapport and communicate effectively in writing and in person with students, parents/guardians, faculty, staff, administrative personnel, and other constituent groups; demonstrate sensitivity to their needs; and maintain appropriate confidentiality regarding student information.
• Experience managing staff and a department, including supervising and developing professional staff and fostering opportunities for professional growth.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, analyze complex issues, and succeed in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with a student-success CRM.
• Experience leading system implementations, process modernization, workflow improvements, or other technology-enabled improvements in enrollment and records operations.
• Experience in a complex higher education environment with responsibilities comparable to those of the College of Charleston.
• Experience representing a Registrar’s Office through professional organizations such as AACRAO and SACRAO.

Guidelines and Supervision

Reporting to the Associate Provost for Academic and International Programs, the Registrar provides leadership and administrative oversight for the institution’s database management and strategic operational supervision of student records and registration, documents, and systems support.

Additional Comments Regarding Position

The Registrar will occasionally work outside the College’s normal office hours (8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday), including during systems implementations and upgrades, graduation weekends, and monthly Faculty Senate meetings during the academic year.

Applications

A complete application includes a cover letter addressed to Trish Priest, search committee chair; a CV; and a list of five references. Please submit application materials through: https://jobs.cofc.edu/postings/18418

Review of applications will begin September 21 and will continue until the position is filled.