This is the third in a series of eight articles on project management (PM) in the academy. In this article, the authors describe the step-by-step implementation of a structural change to Indiana State University's (ISU's) Office of Registration and Records (ORR). The process described may vary as it is implemented elsewhere, but the authors…

The stone age of college and university admissions was characterized by paper, snail mail, large file rooms, and cumbersome admission processes. Even more frightening to recall is that only fourteen short years ago, approximately 36,000 applications for admission to Michigan State University arrived hand printed on paper in sealed envelopes. Mere…

Beginning in the late 1990s, international corporations began hiring Chief Privacy Officers (CPOs). By 2002, large universities responded to this trend by creating this distinct position or modifying an existing job description to include CPO responsibilities. While not every registrar assumes the role of CPO, increasing practical and legislative…

As technology has evolved, the opportunity to transform and enhance the business processes of academic records managers has become more attractive. Many institutions embrace business-process change as a part of their ongoing strategy, but others defer--or simply avoid--any such change. But now more than ever, according to this author, it is…

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores still wield a mighty force in American culture and in the psyches of teenagers, even though 760 American colleges and universities have made standardized testing an optional part of the admissions process. Three years ago, after the new writing portion of the SAT was unveiled, the author's college, the College…

This paper concentrates on the public and formal processes of reporting achievement. The topic is significant because employers, managers and graduate schools all use warrants when making selection and governance decisions. Should those warrants turn out to have, as we argue, local meanings, then selection and governance practices, amongst others,…

In this study, we examine the role of academic preparation in the transition from community colleges to four-year institutions. We address two specific questions: To what extent do academically unprepared students transfer to four-year institutions? And, can positive experiences in community colleges diminish the role of inadequate academic…

Discusses the role of judgments and the teacher as judge in the classroom. Describes how judgments may be communicated through the written word, with emphasis on judgments communicated via school records. (RJC)

Progress Files have been set by the government as a specific element of all higher education provision in England and "should consist of two elements: a transcript recording student achievement which should follow a common format devised by institutions collectively through their representative bodies; and a means by which students can …

Academic advisors, it is suggested, should make available to advisees the maximum amount of accurate and relevant factual information bearing on academic matters. Students should then be encouraged to make rational academic decisions and accept full responsibility for them. (MLW)

This booklet is a guide to the process of transferring college credits from one institution of higher education to another. First, it identifies the factors that affect college transfer, including college and/or state policies on transfer of credits, college residency requirements, comparability of courses, grade received in a course, and…

Provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that affect the right of colleges to withhold transcripts as a means of collecting student debts are considered. Automatic stay provisions state that the filing of a petition for bankruptcy relief prohibits actions to collect obligations of the debtor. The discharge injunction provides that once a discharge…

Maintains that Transcript Analysis (TA) is capable of informing decision makers about a range of educational issues and reform proposals. Illustrates the potential of TA by examining the issues of educational quality and equity as reflected in patterns of academic vs non-academic course-taking among high school students. (BR)

Precise transcript development is vital to the articulation and transfer of credit. The transcript, the institution's award of credit, must present the institution's relation to experiential learning; transcription practices must allow institutions to communicate with third parties. Sample transcripts are provided. (MLW)

The role of the college registrar is neither universally understood nor professionally established, and the historical development of academic administration through five periods in the United States reflects an ambivalence and lack of consensus toward full-time administration. Each period characterizes a different approach to or set of registrar…