Supporting a Campus During a Pandemic By Brenda L. Martinez, Sr. Associate Registrar History is full of moments in time where people are
called upon to act and react in unique and different ways. Those moments are usually marked and associated with tragedies of one nature or another. It is easy to become mired in negativity, however, those events also serve as moments that allow great heroic action to come forward and shine as never before. It is often only in the rear-view mirror that we can fully appreciate and recognize those actions. While our annual report typically celebrates our prior academic year’s achievements, we would be remiss to not focus upon Spring and Summer 2020, where the staff of the Office of the Registrar met and overcame challenges never seen before. The global response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic proved what an ever-changing and interdependent world we now live in. In mid-March, during Spring Break and as COVID-19 numbers rose, the order came from President Schovanec: shut down the campus and move to remote operations. We took a deep breath and (after the shock subsided) went to work. All available laptops were secured and reassigned to staff who needed them. Some volunteered use of their personal equipment; some put together packages of office supplies; some helped to load equipment and resource boxes into vehicles. Vendors were notified to add messaging to our transcript and diploma order website. Only electronic processes would be available. A project to move FERPA authorizations to an online form was fast-tracked and made operational. Within two days almost all staff were equipped and working from home, and all Registrar processes were online with the exception of one: reissued diploma orders.
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The office had dallied in using Microsoft TEAMS, but now it became a critical part of negotiating communication and projects in the midst of chaos and ever-changing guidelines and instructions. There were so many questions to be answered. How long would we do this? Is this sustainable? What if this agency needs something, or this student has requested something else, or our internet goes down? Supplies still had to be ordered and there were meets arranged to pick up and exchange items. Leaders began to step forward from
all levels and areas of the office: those who stayed calm, those who figured out solutions, those who took on new responsibilities to help others. As higher education institutions across the state and nation began to look toward how to finish the term, the Registrar’s office researched and provided input on numerous ideas and suggestions: credit and no credit grading options, drop counts and state drop limits, state and national guard student options, extended deadlines, finals. There were laws, new opinions, and guidance from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to review and analyze. What could we do and how could we achieve it? All of this as we continued to steadily maintain service and responsiveness not only to our campus, but most importantly, to students and parents. Online advance registration came and went. We continued to do the best we could to answer the many questions coming our way from all directions. The spring term ended, and we faced a monumental task: optional credit or no-credit. The final process required faculty to submit grades as normal. Colleges ensured the lowest late grade submission rate we had ever seen. Advisors had been counseling students on the advantages and disadvantages of electing credit or no credit grading for each class, and once the final grading deadline passed, students had 48 hours to decide. The Registrar processing staff was approved to go to campus, and we got to work. All of the “normal” peak period end of term processing was still required, and then we added more than 15,600 manual record changes to our shoulders. There were long hours and few breaks. One mammoth session lasted until 3:00 a.m. in the morning before we took a four-hour rest break at the end of that 20-hour day. And we were not alone as our colleagues across campus feverishly submitted requests. During all of this, summer sections and schedules had to move to online formats. Honor roll recognition moved to an electronic format and was very well received as images of President List and Dean List certificates popped up on social media. Summer brought virtual orientations and new challenges for our TSI Compliance Office. Answering questions, encouraging test score submission, and ensuring students could be properly advised regarding TSI and registration
