Rice University Office of the Registrar 2004-2019

2004-2019

A look bAck over the pAst 15 yeArs

A word from the University registrar

Dear Rice University Friends and Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I present to you this Rice University Office of the Registrar (OTR) informational report. This report provides an overview of our services, and it details many of our accomplishments and goals. Much of what is highlighted in the pages that follow are for the last academic year (2018-2019). But, recognizing the significance of this year, my 15th year as registrar, it seemed appropriate not only to focus on the present and past year but to include information on those years that have passed, and to highlight some of the accomplishments and milestones achieved along the way.

Today’s OTR looks very different than the office I walked into 15 years ago. Not only has our very specific (Rice) office changed, but registrar offices in institutions of higher education around the country have undergone a rather dramatic transformation. The role and function of the university registrar, along with the primary tools used by the registrar (and registrar office staff) have evolved and changed, most specifically due to rapid advancements in technology.

It wasn’t that long ago that when one would think of their interaction with the registrar’s office it usually involved submitting paper forms and waiting in long lines. That was in fact my own first experience, as a student (Sid ’87) in the mid-80’s. On registration deadline days, the lines would become long and would often weave outside Lovett Hall, where we would line up to submit paper forms to add or drop classes. Thanks to computers and the internet, most of these functions and tasks (and many, many more) can now be done electronically and online.

Unfortunately, with most of these technological enhancements, the Rice OTR of 2004 was “a little late to the party.” In the early 2000’s, the OTR was wrestling with a difficult student system change, and in 2004, OTR chose to migrate to yet another student system, which was the second system migration within 5 years. It was a complicated and difficult time. Early on, we set our sights on modernizing and improving all of our business processes, including adding functions such as online grade entry, etc. More importantly, we went about the process of reinventing ourselves. It’s been consistent and steady since those early days, and we’ve tried to model and hold ourselves to continuous improvement. We’re a very different office today, and I believe a far better one.

In looking back, I am particularly grateful to the Rice senior leadership that has strongly supported us along the way. I also deeply appreciate each of the team members that make up our OTR team, with particular gratitude to Ellen Everett and Justin Schilke, whom without their hard work and dedication, much of what we’ve accomplished would not have been possible.

Again, it is with great pleasure that I present this informational report. Join us in the pages that follow, and with any comments or questions, please contact me directly at dtenney@rice.edu.

There’s more to do. We are, after all, at Rice, where there is “no upper limit.”

David A. Tenney University Registrar

A ChAnging RiCe: 2004 to 2019

In some ways, the Rice of 2019 has similarities to the Rice of 2004. However, in many more ways, the Rice of 2019 is vastly different from the Rice of 2004. One of the most noticeable aspects of this difference is in the size of the student body. The changes in the student body have come in

multiple of waves as a result of the V2C. First, the undergraduate population began to expand starting in the Fall 2009 semester. Then, the graduate population began to expand in the Fall 2011 semester.

Rice enRollment Fall 2004 to Fall 2018

Rice DegRees awaRDeD by acaDemic yeaR, ay 2004-05 to ay 2018-19

Meet the Otr staff

Student ReCoRdS, RegiStRAtion, And gRAduAtion

ellen eveRett sR. associate RegistRaR

Rachel clay acaDemic cuRRiculum manageR

maRitza salinas assistant RegistRaR

shaR-lee shanDeRa stuDent RecoRDs analyst

alicia bRaDley stuDent RecoRDs analyst

ana caRRasco tRanscRipt & veRiFication analyst

DaRlene JuDD RegistRation assistant

cynthia chavez staFF assistant FoR customeR seRvice

CAtAlog/SChedule, ClASSRoomS, ViSiting StudentS, And dAtA

DaviD tenney univeRsity RegistRaR

Justin schilke sR. assoicate RegistRaR

DebRa RobeRts assistant RegistRaR

maRci wilson pRogRam cooRDinatoR

John maRtinez catalog & scheDuling assistant

chRis higgins classRoom & scheDuling manageR

aRmi cahoy executive assistant

otR AReAS of ReSponSibility And

...supporting rice’s educational mission.

A Levels Credit Processing and Posting

Academic Calendar

Academic Plan Changes - Graduate Students

Academic Standing, Probation & Suspension

AP Test Score Processing

Athletic Eligibility

B-On-Time Loan Forgiveness

Classroom Renovations

Classroom Scheduling

Commencement

CourseLeaf CAT, CIM, CLSS

Course Catalog Updates

Course Descriptions and/or Information

Course Evaluations

Course Rosters

Course Schedule Build

Curriculum Review

Data Requests

Declarations (Major, Minor, & Certificates)

Dean Verifications

Degree Certification/Degree Audits

Degree Verifications

Degree Works

Degree Conferral & Transcript Updates

Email Notices & Communication

Enrollment Verifications

Facsimile Diplomas

Fee Waivers

FERPA Compliance

Final Exam Scheduling

General Announcements

Grade Processing

Grade Rosters

Graduation Application - Graduate

Graduation Application - Undergraduate

IB Credit Processing/Posting

Instructor Evaluations

Interinstitutional Agreements and Registration

International Certifications

Latin Honors Calculation

National Student Clearinghouse Submissions

NCAA Compliance

New Student Orientation/Registration

OnBase Document Management

OTR Fees

President’s Honor Roll

Registration/Enrollment Troubleshooting

Replacement Diploma Processing

Report to the President

Residential College Updates

Student Records Access

Student Registration Actions

Student Status Changes

Study Abroad

Subpoenas

Summer Sessions

Transcript Processing

Transfer Credit Processing/Posting

VA Processing

Visiting Post-Baccalaureate

Visiting Students

Waitlist Management

the office of the registrAr (otr) supports the educAtion

...in the RiCe Community

Academic Calendar Working Group

Academic Technologies Subcommittee

Administrative Technologies Subcommittee

Classroom Quality Management Team

College Associates

College Roadtrips

Committee on Examinations and Standing

Committee on Teaching

Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum

Data Stewards

Faculty Senate

FERPA Brown Bag

Gender Identity/Legal Sex Working Group

Graduate Council

ID Consolidation Working Group

On Campus Events Task Force

Phi Beta Kappa

Staff Advisory Committee

Student Insurance Committee

Student Services Collaboration

Tableau Users Group

Training Presentations (Degree Works, CLSS, CIM)

...impacting others positively.

...At the StAte/RegionAl leVel

National Student Clearinghouse Academy

Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO)

South East Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (SETACRAO)

Southern Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (SACRAO)

Western Association of Veterans Education Specialist (WAVES)

...At the nAtionAl leVel

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)

Association of American Universities (AAU) Registrars

Degree Works Forum

Ellucian Live

...inteRnAtionAlly

Global Virtual Exchange Program (Rice Global Scholars Program)

tionAl mission of the university by working with the

of its educAtionAl records, provide quAlity service,

The role of a registrar’s office has dramatically shifted in higher education in the past two decades. While once just primarily the keeper of records, the role has changed such that registrar offices are enmeshed in many areas of campus life. The OTR’s past 15 years can be defined by the adaptation of this evolving role by implementing new technologies, supporting the increased demands for data, and catering to the evolving needs of students, faculty and staff.

The office went through considerable changes in the early 2000s that hampered growth and the ability to be on the cutting edge of what other registrar offices were doing across the nation. Since that time, the OTR has consistently implemented enhancements that have positioned Rice well in terms of registrar-type roles and responsibilities. Some of the major implementations were Degree Works, electronic diplomas (CeCredentials), electronic transcripts, and

electronic course scheduling and course catalog software.

...continuing excellence, growing every day.

As we look toward the future, the OTR (along with OIT) has plans to implement enhanced registration software and support other units on campus with their specific needs (e.g., advising software, event scheduling software, online academic programs). We also plan to continue looking for ways in which we

can streamline and automate business processes so that staff time can be devoted to tasks that both look backward (e.g., clean-up of data due to student system migrations almost two decades ago) and forward (e.g., enhancing the student experience, supporting changing university priorities).

Student ReCoRdS

...maintaining the accuracy and integrity of rice’s education records.

DegRee woRks

In academic year 2014-2015, the Office of the Registrar implemented Degree Works, which is a webbased, degree-auditing and tracking tool that enables students and advisors to evaluate academic progress towards graduation in accordance to university and academic program requirements as they are outlined in the General Announcements. This tool allows students, advisors, and staff to quickly and easily identify which requirements have been satisfied, and which requirements are outstanding.

• Fall 2014 – Beta-testing of Degree Works with select students

• Spring 2015 – All undergraduates begin using Degree Works for University Requirements

• Fall 2015 – All undergraduate academic departments/programs begin using Degree Works for University Requirements and majors, minors, certificates, etc., including the curriculum from academic year 2011-2012 onward, in order to capture curriculum for the majority of continuing undergraduates; OTR and all undergraduate academic departments/programs certify students using Degree Works during the degree conferral process

• Spring 2017 – All undergraduate academic departments/programs and a select group of graduate departments/programs, in conjunction with the OTR and GPS, use Degree Works to certify students during the degree conferral process

electRonic couRse oveRRiDes by instRuctoRs

The OTR implemented electronic course overrides beginning with Fall 2017. This allows a primary instructor of a course to grant permission for a student to register for a course without the use of a paper Special Registration Form. It has eliminated the need for over 5,700 Special Registrations to be submitted in just five semesters. This has caused the number of processed paper Special Registration Forms to trend downward in recent years.

couRseleaF cat

CourseLeaf Catalog (CAT) is a comprehensive Catalog Management System that is designed to assist schools in maintaining the university curricular requirements and policies in an interactive format. Rice implemented it to revise and maintain the General Announcements, beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year. The OTR continues to facilitate edits to the GA on behalf of academic departments, continuing to bring further clarity to the GA by creating more consistency across academic departments/ programs through the internal creation of templates and style guides while performing edits.

electRonic tRanscRipts

In 2015, Rice implemented electronic (PDF) transcripts by partnering with the National Student Clearinghouse. Since then, Rice has issued over 10,000 electronic transcripts, freeing staff to do other additional tasks.

ceRtiFieD electRonic cReDentials (cecReDentials)

In 2013, Rice switched diploma vendors. In that switch, the OTR saved Rice over $100,000 in diploma costs and was also able to be one of the first universities in the nation to implement Certified Electronic Credentials. This service is free for all students who graduated beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year and provides the students with a secure and certified electronic version of their diplomas. A video highlighting this service is available here.

DegRee anD enRollment veRiFications pRocesseD

electRonic couRse oveRRiDes by instRuctoRs

special RegistRation FoRms pRocesseD

dAtA And RepoRting

...enabling rice to make data-driven decisions.

Data waRehousing initiative

OTR began working on a student data warehouse “proof of concept” in 2005 with OIT. Since then, several iterations of the warehouse have occurred, culminating in the current state with the Tableau Dataviz Server. Through this server, the OTR delivers clean, standardized official census data since 2004 to key offices on campus; moreover, the length of time for offices to get data has been reduced from three weeks to a couple of days in the last few semesters. All data elements have also been defined in Rice’s Data Cookbook so that the external units accessing the data understand the data elements that they are using and where those elements come from.

RepoRts to the pResiDent in tableau

The Reports to the President are reports that provide summary data regarding Rice enrollment and academic program completion. Prior to the Spring 2016 semester, these reports were created in Microsoft Word after performing a complicated and lengthy series of calculations in Excel. This process took several weeks to complete each semester and was prone to many data entry errors. In Spring 2016, the reports were transferred over to Tableau to read directly from the data warehouse. This transition ensured that the reports were published as soon as the new data was loaded into the data warehouse, as well as improved accuracy by the elimination of manual entry.

Daily Data checks

As the complexity of student records increases, so, too, does the likelihood of data errors. Daily data checks were created in Spring 2018 to address this problem. System-generated data checks are emailed every morning to OTR supervisors who relay the information to staff for correction and intervene when there are patterns of incorrect data entry.

aD hoc Data Requests

The Rice community’s data needs have increased as data-driven decisions are desired. This has led to a proliferation of ad hoc data requests. Because of this increase, the OTR implemented a data request form in January 2015 that collects the requests in an organized manner that addresses several request and data security issues, as well as allowing the OTR to resolve issues we’ve experienced and to report on these requests.

CouRSe CAtAlog And SCheduling

...supporting the pedagodical needs of rice instructors.

couRse anD instRuctoRs evaluations go online

Beginning with the Spring 2006 semester, the evaluation process went from being paper-based to online via ESTHER. Student evaluators were able to complete their evaluations privately and at times of their convenience. Initially, response rates dipped, but since Spring 2007 student response rates have been and remain high.

couRseleaF cim

The CourseLeaf Curriculum (CIM) module is a course inventory and curriculum management platform, with customized online forms and automated workflows, designed to ensure accuracy across an institution’s courses and programs. The OTR spearheaded the implementation and launched the module in August 2018. The implementation has allowed academic schools and departments to collect the needed information for revisions to courses, provide notifications across campus for affected units, and integrate into the General Announcements so that revisions don’t need to be made on each and every General Announcement page. Over the 2018-2019 academic year, more than 1,500 requests were processed by OTR through CIM.

couRseleaF clss

The CourseLeaf Section Scheduler (CLSS) is designed to assist schools to plan, develop, and update the course schedule. The OTR implemented this module in Summer 2016 for Spring 2017 scheduling. CLSS helped us achieve more efficient course and classroom scheduling by eliminating the thousands of pieces of paper that are disbursed throughout campus each semester, made it easier for departments to meet the two-thirds rule for prime time course scheduling, and created transparency across schools and departments to proactively address course scheduling issues before they occur. CLSS has allowed Rice to more efficiently schedule classes and has put departments in control of their course schedules.

gRaDe entRy pins to instRuctoRs

Prior to the Spring 2018 semester, the OTR distributed grade entry rosters to departments for instructors to enter grades. This process was entirely manual, included several thousand sheets of paper, and took one staff member an entire week to complete. In coordination with OIT, the OTR transferred this process to be entirely electronic. Instructors now receive grade entry PINs via email, no longer necessitating the need for a paper form with the grade entry PIN. This change has led to an increase in the number of “on time” grade submissions, especially during key periods, such as during Spring degree auditing.

DiD you know?

OTR created a wiki with step-by-step instructions for campus users to assist with CourseLeaf CIM and CourseLeaf CLSS usage.

It has helped reduce calls for assistance by providing the campus community with directions for everything that can be done in CIM and CLSS.

ClASSRoomS

...maintaining and effectively utilizing rice’s learning environments.

classRoom Renovations

As a key member of the Classroom Quality Management Team, OTR recommends and assists in classroom renovations across campus. These renovations run up to $500,000 an academic year, excluding major projects that are submitted through the Capital Budget Facility Budget Request (FBR) process. Renovations of classrooms are now posted on a webpage for the community to view the progress and enhancement of Rice’s learning environments.

classRoom utilization DashboaRD

To show efficient use of classroom resources, the OTR has routinely been requested to provide data on room usage. Prior to 2015, this was a manual calculation done on data from the first week of classes, and it took over a week for a staff member to compile. A Classroom Inventory and Utilization Dashboard was launched in 2015 that, after several iterations, now looks at the entire semester for utilization and is able to differentiate between events and academic classes.

two-thiRDs pRime time Rule enFoRcement

The Space Task Force (2013) issued a Provost-endorsed recommendation that the OTR enforce a policy in which no more than two-thirds of a department’s offerings could be in Prime Time. At the time, and for the next several years, the OTR was unable to effectively enforce this policy due to limitations in resources. With the implementation of CourseLeaf CLSS, departments are unable to submit or change their schedules without adhering to this scheduling rule.

classRoom Requests FoR events

OTR is responsible for scheduling the activities to occur in the general use classrooms and computer labs. This process has evolved over time to be run through a request form that accurately captures the requestors needs for OTR staff to determine the appropriate venue for the event.

ClASSRoomS - by the numbeRS

CuStomeR SeRViCe

...providing for the needs of the community in a professional manner.

Request tRackeR (Reg-e) ticketing system

In January 2010, the OTR began using a ticketing system called “Request Tracker.” This system issues a ticket number to every email request for assistance sent to the OTR via registrar@rice.edu. It allows OTR staff to efficiently move the ticket to the correct staff member for assistance rather than forwarding emails.

RenovateD woRkspace

The OTR workspace had not been significantly renovated in several decades, but during the 20182019 fiscal year, Rice invested in a renovated workspace for OTR that aimed to serve the distinct needs of academic administrators. Privacy was enhanced for specific needs under FERPA, and the layout and technology in the office was upgraded to coincide with the needs of a technology dependent office. The OTR moved into the newly renovated space in August 2019.

website Revisions anD upgRaDes

The OTR website has gone through three major upgrades in the past five years. Most recently, it was moved to Drupal, which provided a mobile-friendly platform for one of the busiest departmental websites at Rice. (See numbers on the following page.)

college RoaDtRips

Beginning in 2010, the OTR began College Roadtrips. Near the middle of the fall semester, the OTR sets up a table in the commons of each college during lunch and helps seniors apply for graduation. Additionally, any questions any student has about anything that OTR manages (e.g., transcripts, Degree Works, enrollment verifications) can be asked and answered.

campus tRainings

With dependence on technology also comes a need to know how to use that technology. Each year, OTR hosts trainings for Degree Works, CourseLeaf CLSS, and CourseLeaf CIM, with a sizable attendance at each of the trainings. Additionally, the OTR provides one-on-one trainings as needed for new users who begin to use that software in between training sessions.

In conjunction with the Office of General Counsel, the OTR co-hosts a FERPA Brown Bag each September, with attendance from across many different units on campus. Topics specifically relevant to the Rice community are discussed along with the appropriate action in compliance to FERPA.

visiting stuDents

The OTR has provided service for the admission and registration of visiting students for the past several years. Since assuming responsibility for the visiting student programs, the OTR has expanded to include a Program Coordinator dedicated solely to the growing visiting student population. Additionally, the OTR helped structure a new visiting student type (Visiting Student Researchers) that allows international undergraduate students to conduct research under Rice faculty under a J-1 visa; the program began in Spring 2016.

tRackeR tickets since 2010

80,053

total

unique visiting stuDents oF all types pRocesseD by otR since 2014

1,788

pRojeCt highlight: otRdoCS

otR

At the beginning of 2014, the OTR staff manual with a description of many of the OTR business processes was scattered in different documents and files on the network share drive. With more complex tasks, it was often difficult to identify which file to look at, and this: 1) hampered service to the campus community and 2) sometimes caused the same process or question to be addressed in different ways.

Over several months, OTR staff were interviewed regarding their business processes and new process maps were drawn. These were incorporated in OTRdocs, which is a wiki that houses all OTR business processes. Staff are responsible for regularly reviewing and updating their business processes. This tool has allowed OTR to be more efficient and better documented than before.

There are currently over 400 pages of documentation in OTRdocs, addressing everything from employee leave requests to project implementation information, to routine registration processing. Other departments at Rice have used it as an example as they build their own documentation.

C u S tome R S e RV i C eb y the n umbe RS

office of the registrAr

ContACt infoRmAtion

contact

Phone: 713.348.4999

Fax: 713.348.5921

Email: registrar@rice.edu

Website: registrar.rice.edu

physical location

The Office of the Registrar is located in Allen Center Room 116. Allen Center is Building #33 on the Rice Map

mailing aDDRess

Rice University

Office of the Registrar - MS 57

P.O. Box 1892

Houston, TX 77251-1892

oFFice houRs

In order to better serve the Rice community, the lobby hours for the Office of the Registrar are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. These hours provide our office additional time to process requests, changes, and updates that impact registration and other areas.

Our staff are available from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm via registrar@rice.edu to assist and answer questions as needed.

staFF DiRectoRy anD task listing

If you need to contact a specific person, a Staff Directory is available here. Individual staff responsibilities are outlined on the Staff Task Listing page.