New
registrar Monica Augustin plans to introduce an on-line system to
make information handled by her office more easily accessible to the
College community.
With a knowing smile and resounding laugh, newly appointed Registrar Monica Augustin will tell you that MHC's system of registration has "outlived its usefulness." If all goes well, by spring of the year 2000, piles of paperwork, pencils and pens, and last-minute sprints to her office will no longer be a part of the registration process. Imagine, instead, being able to determine space availability in upcoming classes, meeting times, and whether a course will satisfy major or core requirements--without ever leaving your computer. Imagine registering for classes, adding and dropping them instantly, and, at the end of the term, learning your grade and even ordering your transcript--all with the click of a mouse.
Augustin designed and implemented just such an on-line system, as well as a Web page used by the college community to access data maintained by the registrar's office, at the College of William and Mary. Drawing on the expertise of LITS and input from students, faculty, and staff, Augustin will implement a similar system at MHC. She served as the Virginia college's registrar until assuming her position at MHC three weeks ago.
Augustin acknowledges that as an undergraduate studying biology and psychology at Oakwood College in Alabama in the 1970s, she viewed the registrar as "bad news," seeing the office's role as similar to that of the Grim Reaper. After spending five years as registrar at William and Mary (1994 - 99) and nine years in that role at Pomona College (1985 - 1994), Augustin realized that registrars get a bum rap. "Students often forget that registrars do not create college policies, they implement them," she says.
As the registrars of her student days did, Augustin views maintaining the integrity of academic records and upholding academic policy as an essential element of the job. She points out, however, that another key part of the contemporary registrar's role is "empowering students, faculty, and staff by providing them with direct access to academic information, and the best service possible, through the use of technology."
From ordering new furniture that will "create a warmer environment in the office," to thinking about the composition of small committees that will work together to create online access to data maintained by her office, Augustin is already taking steps to change the way her office delivers resources to the MHC community. She says that one reason she came to MHC is that this position will enable her to be part of a close-knit college community and to have personal contact with students, elements missing from her job at William and Mary and something she valued while at Pomona.
"Monica was selected from a group of strong finalists by a search committee made up of students, faculty, and administration," says Dean of Enrollment Jane Brown. "She brings the combination of skills that is so important for a registrar for the twenty-first century: fierce dedication to customer service, a broad background in the uses of technology in student services, and a focus on providing direct access to information. We are fortunate to have her."
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