By Autumn Walden, Editor, AACRAO Connect, Content Strategy Manager, AACRAO
The end-of-year holiday season tends to stir up self-reflection—what worked well, what didn’t, how can I do better, where do I need to grow or restrict—and these questions go beyond the personal. As our campuses chug through the end of fall and winter terms to prepare for spring, we might analyze how our systems and staff are strong or strained and where greater consistency or collaboration is needed. For many enrollment practitioners, these reflections have become an operational necessity, and there is data to consider.
According to the 2025 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, nearly 49% of learning and talent development professionals say they’re feeling the pressure of a growing skills crisis, a trend that impacts higher education as regulations and policies evolve and expectations intensify.
Institutions that adopt a strategy of intentional professional development or “career development champions,” such as the 71% who reportedly offer structured skills and leadership training, treat learning as foundational. The AACRAO Registrar’s Self-Assessment was designed for our professional community—for those whose work directly touches compliance, curriculum integrity, learning and credit mobility, data accuracy, and institutional accountability.
The Self-Assessment serves as a practical guide with which registrars can candidly:
Survey their own office procedures and staff members.
Consider factors impacting compliance, customer service, and current practice.
Weigh options to formulate action plans and execute procedural improvements based upon their assessments.
Priced at $199 for AACRAO members and $340 for nonmembers, the course offers a high-value, low-barrier way to build internal capacity as a stepping stone before considering a more in-depth commitment to consulting for the Registrar’s Office Review or other professional services.
When I asked Michelle Kirkland, Assistant Dean for Academic Services & Registration at NYU School of Law, what prompted her to take the Registrar’s Self-Assessment, “We are preparing for a site visit, and I need to assess the efficiency of my office,” she shared. The Self-Assessment is formatted as a set of questions designed to prompt data collection and analysis. “Self-paced is actually good. I wasn’t able to go through most of it in one sitting, as it is very detailed,” Kirkland continued. “So this format was appropriate. I didn’t have my team do the assessment with me, but I can see how doing that would be a good team-building exercise.”
The recommendations found in the Self-Assessment support the implementation of best practices in the Office of the Registrar and are based on a consensus from working professionals in the field. “The discussion about accommodations seems to be top of mind for most in the profession. So that is definitely something that made me think about our practices,” Kirkland added in reference to the most valuable aspects of the course. “At a very high level, I am more cognizant of where pressure points may exist …”
When reflecting on who might benefit most from the course, Kirkland offered this advice: “This course is equally good for the new registrar as a guide to what they should be thinking about, as well as a check-in for a seasoned registrar on things they may not have considered or cutting-edge issues that have arisen.”
Whether taken individually or as a team, the Registrar’s Self-Assessment gives registrar and enrollment professionals something rare: the design mimics the approach a consultant would use if hired to evaluate the operations of a registrar's office, in a cost-effective and easy-to-use format. “I intend to use it for team development,” said Kirkland. “Obtaining the input of the team would greatly inform how we shape processes.”
In a year defined by transformation and tightening resources, investing in core skills and in the people who carry out this work every day, adding the Registrar’s Self-Assessment to your toolkit or enrolling in other types of On-Demand or Instructor-Led learning remains essential to meeting the moments ahead. And remember that you have colleagues you can count on for assistance in the AACRAO Exchange, celebrating its second year of professional conversations, with popular groups such as AACRAO Registrars, Small College Registrars, and the Tech Hub, among others.