The AHUA site has recently published a blog I wrote on this most recent report on the Role of the Registrar, updating a study from 2018.

It follows on from a decision five years ago to undertake a survey of the AHUA membership to uncover the realities of life as a Registrar. The outcomes of this formed the basis of the report, Never a Dull Moment: The Role of the Registrar.

Things are never dull

The report showed substantial commonalities in some dimensions of the responsibilities of the role and some divergence in others. It also covered the many and various titles held by AHUA members, from Chief Operating Officer to Director of Administration and from University Secretary to the old school Registrar.

The clear conclusion of the findings of this report is that Registrars in 2018 were involved in a huge span of activities and the constant change meant that the common feature of every role was that that life is never, ever be described as dull.

The blog also covers other studies including a report from HUMANE in 2022 on the role of the Head of Administration in Europe.

2023 – the return of the Registrar

As discovered in the 2018 report, the role of Registrar comes in many different forms and in the 2023 survey, more than a quarter of respondents identified their job title as Chief Operating Officer, making it the most popular title although the traditional title of University Secretary remains heavily represented and the Registrar designation is still hanging in there:

There is much more detail in the full blog and plenty more in the report too about anticipated future challenges, skills needed in the future and some advice for the next generation of Registrars.