By Autumn Walden, Editor, AACRAO Connect, Content Strategy Manager, AACRAO
AACRAO Awards is proud to honor Lara Medley as the 2025 recipient of the Janie Barnett Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her impact through her scholarship, mentorship, and deep commitment to professional development. With a career spanning nearly four decades, Medley has been a dedicated advocate for the profession, serving in numerous volunteer roles within AACRAO, including Co-chair of Volunteers, author, committee chair, and as Vice President for Records and Academic Services on the Board of Directors.
Currently, Medley serves as Assistant Vice Chancellor and University Registrar at the University of Colorado Denver, bringing her expertise full circle at her alma mater. As we celebrate these achievements leading up to our awards presentation at the 110th AACRAO Annual Meeting, we also take this opportunity to hear directly from Medley about the lessons she has learned, and her insights and influences.
Who influenced your decision to get involved with AACRAO?
I took my first Registrar position in the fall of 2003. One of my first mentors, Kathleen Sena, asked me to be the fourth roommate in the hotel room at the Las Vegas AACRAO Annual Meeting in 2004. By the time April 2004 arrived, Kathleen had “voluntold” me into the position of Vice President for Colorado in the Rocky Mountain Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (RMACRAO) and I was well on my way. I volunteered to write a chapter for The Registrar’s Guide during that meeting. I have been learning and sharing ever since.
What do you enjoy most about your work and/or involvement with AACRAO?
My favorite part of being engaged in AACRAO is the continued opportunity to develop relationships with professional colleagues, many of whom have become treasured friends. Being able to contact others in our profession to ask questions, exchange ideas, and sometimes just go out to have fun is the best part of AACRAO for me.
Have you encountered any unexpected or notable experiences along your professional path?
The reality in our profession is that you may have worked in higher education for 40 years, yet every day can present you with a new challenge or opportunity—something completely off the wall that you have never seen before. Solving these kinds of puzzles presents fascinating intellectual opportunities.
Who are your role models?
My role models and admired mentors include Kathleen Sena, Tammy Aagard, Mark Hommerding, Helen Garrett, Julia Pomerenk, and Tina Faulkner. Each person took time out of their lives to share their extensive knowledge and wisdom, helping me move forward in my profession and life. Selfless caring for others is abundant in each of them.
What do you aspire to accomplish in the future?
I want to train, support, and lift up my staff and colleagues over the next year and a half so that I can retire knowing that I have done everything I can to help them succeed.
What advice would you give to help others find their community at AACRAO?
- Don’t sit in your hotel room at Annual Meeting or SEM.
- Don’t sit in the back of the room at a session.
- Go out with a group of people. Get to know a few more people each time you go.
- Volunteer for something small, and then something bigger, and then something even bigger that you never thought you could do.
- Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it (including yourself)!
- Don’t let setbacks stop your progress.
- Don’t stop until you have achieved everything that you have wanted to achieve.
Along the way, bring people with you so they can begin their own journey into bigger and better. This is how we connect, make friendships, and support each other.