Registrar Specialist

The Office of the Registrar (OTR) at Rice University supports the educational mission of the university by working with the Rice community to maintain the accuracy and integrity of its educational records, provide quality service, and support innovative systems that enhance academic support.

The Registrar Specialist serves as a cross-functional generalist who learns and contributes to a broad range of activities across the office. Rather than specializing in a single functional area, the Registrar Specialist will support multiple operational needs and serve as a flexible resource across teams, as needed. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Student Records and Registration: Assist with student registration, student record maintenance, and associated tasks for undergraduate, graduate, and visiting students.
• Transfer Credit: Support the review, articulation, and processing of transfer credit in accordance with university policies.
• Degree Audit and Graduation Certification: Assist in running degree audits, verifying completion of degree requirements, and preparing students for graduation and commencement.
• Transcripts and Verifications: Help process requests for official transcripts, enrollment and degree verifications, and diploma issuance and distribution.
• Curriculum Management: Assist in maintaining and reviewing academic curriculum data, including updates to the General Announcements and course catalog.
• Academic Progress Monitoring: Support advisors and academic departments in tracking students' progress toward degree completion.
• Commencement and Graduation Support: Participate in commencement planning, including student communications, event logistics, and diploma preparation.
• Course Scheduling: Assist with the coordination and maintenance of course scheduling data, working with departments to ensure accurate and timely updates to the schedule of classes.
• Classroom Scheduling: Support classroom assignment processes by coordinating room reservations and ensuring efficient use of classroom space.
• Customer Service: Deliver frontline support to students, faculty, and staff across all service channels including in-person, phone, email, and ticketing system.
• OTR Communications: Assist in the development and dissemination of Registrar-related communications to students, faculty, and staff.
• Special Projects and Operational Support: Participate in cross-team projects, data integrity audits, business process analysis and improvements, system testing, documentation, and staff training.
   

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree
  • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted.
• One-plus (1+) years of related experience
  • In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted.
• Skills Required:
  • Demonstrated experience in an office or administrative environment, preferably experience in records (and data) management, accounting, or another closely related field.
  • Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills; excellent customer service skills.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a high degree of accuracy and an uncompromising attention to detail. 
  • Experience with PC computers, including intermediate-level proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite of software applications; basic to intermediate understanding of database concepts.
  • Knowledge of higher education academic curriculum: the relationship between degrees, majors, and where applicable, major concentrations, minors, and certificates.
  • Experience and understanding of applicable laws, regulations, and policies, including how they are applied within their assigned functional area.
  • A high level of business acumen, professionalism, and maturity, including the ability to maintain confidence with sensitive student records information.
  • Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize work assignments.

Preferences

• Education Preferred:
  • Advanced Degree
• Experience Preferred:
  • Three-plus (3+) years of experience
  • Experience in higher education, particularly experience in a college or university Registrar’s Office.
  • Experience and history in participating in professional organizations (e.g., TACRAO, SACRAO, AACRAO) and contributions to the registrar profession.
• Skills Preferred:
  • Technical skill and experience with specialized software tools commonly used in Registrar’s Offices, such as Ellucian Banner, Degree Works, Leepfrog CourseLeaf products (CAT, CIM, CLSS), etc.
  • Skill and experience interfacing software tools (SQL Developer, Access, etc.) with Oracle tables and views, formulating queries, form design and reporting, etc.

Workplace Requirements

• Ability to work within a fast-paced office environment with changing priorities, critical deadlines, and the need for multitasking.
• Ability to work both autonomously and as a member of a team, with minimal supervision.
• Ability to quickly learn and use new systems, processes, procedures, and complex office functions.
• Office environment; standard working hours, full-time 40 hours per week. Occasional additional hours outside of normal working hours due to regular and seasonal activity.
• On campus position: This position is exclusively on-site, necessitating all duties to be performed in-person. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.
   

Essential Functions

• Coordinates and maintains the data and corresponding communications within an assigned (Office of the Registrar) functional area, using specialized software and programs.
• Assists in the maintenance of complete current and historical records, both electronic and paper, ensuring the ability to quickly retrieve information and generate reports as needed.
• Coordinates and performs the comprehensive review, maintenance, submission, and changes to records and data within an assigned functional area; ensure timely updates and accuracy across all official documentation (university and office policies, business process documentation, the university’s General Announcements, etc.).
• Ensures meticulous adherence to data entry timelines and suggests new innovative methods for meeting deadlines or facilitating the seamless transfer of data to enhance overall efficiency.
• Assists in the ongoing development, adherence, and maintenance of standards, policies, and procedures; documents business processes, office policies, and procedures; and routinely audits documentation.
• Performs detailed analyses and routine data integrity audits; consistently reviews and analyzes data and ensures consistent data accuracy.
• Ensures the conformity of record release procedures to the applicable policies and legal requirements governing the confidentiality of student records, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and all other applicable laws and regulations.
• Provides regular guidance, instruction, and direction in response to inquiries and requests for information from the university community.
• Maintains current professional knowledge in the (registrar) profession, including in the area of student records management and student records technology.
• Performs all other duties as required.

Additional Functions

• Has shared responsibility for the content on the Office of the Registrar web pages; contributes toward the development and editing of website informational text to communicate policies and procedures to the university community and beyond.
• Has shared responsibility to make ongoing updates and improvements to Office of the Registrar business process documentation (specifically the OTRwiki, monthly task schedules, and the OTR annual production calendar.
• Serves as a customer service representative for the Office of the Registrar, serves as a backup to other professional staff, and assists in other office functional tasks, as needed.

Rice University Office of the Registrar website: https://registrar.rice.edu