In his role as University Registrar, John Papinchak focuses on student privacy, data stewardship and governance, academic policy, academic calendars, and university learning spaces. John began working at Carnegie Mellon's Office of Admission in 1984 and in 1988 became an Associate Director of Admission. He served as the Director of Summer Studies from 1986 until 1994. In 1994, he became Carnegie Mellon's University Registrar. He was involved with the re-engineering of Enrollment Services in 1995 and with implementing several process improvements including the first Student Information Online (SIO), online registration (OLR) and electronic grades (E-Grades/FIO). He has since been intimately involved in the Student Services Suite (S3) project to modernize SIO, the implementation of My Plaid Student, the current development of the S3 Admin Console and S3 Faculty Course & Grade Information, and the development of the Student Data Warehouse (SDW). John currently sits on the Associate Deans Council, Associate Deans for Graduate Programs, the University Education Council, Learning Spaces and Information as an Asset Teams, and he serves on the University Committee on Discipline. He is also co-chair of the Veteran Students’ Success Steering Committee.
John received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with an additional major in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 1984. In 1990, he earned a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. He is active in several professional organizations, including American Association of University Registrars, on which he currently serves as a board member and Conference Program Director, MSACRAO, and AACRAO, where he serves on the Program Activities Committee. John is a former Staff Council Representative and Chair, and former member of the Carnegie Mellon Admissions Council (CMAC). He has served as the co-sponsor of Carnegie Mellon's Faculty/Staff blood drives with the Central Blood Bank since 1986. He is also a faculty advisor with Alpha Phi Omega's Kappa Chapter, presently chairing the Advisory Committee. He has served as a Class of 1984 representative as part of the Inspire Innovation campaign, an alumni volunteer, and is a member of the Order of The May and a Loyal Scot.
Outside of Carnegie Mellon, John was formerly involved as a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America, local Little League president and coach, local soccer association president and board member, and recreational and travel soccer coach. He remains active as a local soccer referee officiating youth and high school matches and is the current registrar for the Western PA State Referee Committee. John lives in South Park with his wife and has three adult sons.