I have worked in higher education for the past fifteen years, but my desire to work in the university setting began much earlier. As an undergraduate student, I worked alongside my academic advisor to develop an interdisciplinary major that focused on education, business/CIS, and social work. As I look back on those formative years, I see that my academic program and student worker role in Residential Life/Student Activities were steppingstones for a future career in higher education.
The year following college graduation, I moved to Moscow, Russia to work with Russian educators in a private Russian IB school. My experience at the Moscow Economics School confirmed my desire to pursue a career that enveloped education, data, administration, and service. I then accepted a position as Assistant Registrar at Trinity International University. I worked closely with Admissions and Financial Aid to ensure a seamless student experience from recruitment to graduation for non-traditional students in the Chicago area.
I then joined Bacone College as a Financial Aid Counselor. I was able to integrate my registrar knowledge of degree completion and retention with financial aid. I began to see how recruitment and advising have a direct impact on student success, retention, persistence, graduation, and life after college. As the higher education landscape is rapidly changing, my experiences at Bacone taught me to always be mindful of the financial sacrifices students make to attend college. An opportunity then arose to work as an Assistant Registrar at Rogers State University. I had an opportunity to be part of the new SIS implementation team. I was the project manager for the Student and Advising/Degree Audit modules for the new SIS. After three years in my role as Assistant Registrar, I was promoted to Associate Registrar. I led the Registrar team to develop efficient transfer evaluation processes. I was able to work with campus leaders to improve transfer admission, course review, and degree completions.
After a move across the country, I accepted a position as Associate Registrar at Lawrence University. Alongside an Intentional Interim Registrar and a new Co-Associate Registrar, we were tasked to rebuild the registrar’s office to align with university priorities and best practices. Six months into this transitional season, Lawrence launched a national search for the Registrar position. I applied and was offered the position. With the encouragement of the administration, strong IT support, and an energetic staff, we have been able to improve processes and align our priorities with the university’s strategic initiatives.
My past experiences have helped me develop my understanding of how institutional processes, procedures, and technological tools can improve the student journey from prospect to life after college. I enjoy working with systems and data. However, even more than systems and data, I enjoy working with students, staff, and faculty in the higher education setting. I look forward to meetings with students to answer difficult questions. I enjoy collaborating with staff and faculty to think through problems, policies, ideas, and goals to better equip the institution to deliver a quality education to our students.