Series Fonds 127-7 - Committees

Dr. H.M. Tory undertook the responsibilities of a Registrar in the first two years of the University’s existence. In 1910, as the number of students expanded into the hundreds, the University appointed Cecil Race the first full-time Registrar. Race performed the duties of Registrar and Librarian in 1910. From 1910 to 1920 he served the dual role of Registrar and Bursar. He continued as Registrar until 1926. The first two decades of operation saw the University rapidly grow in number of courses, programs, and students. Accordingly, the first Assistant Registrar, Mr. G. B. Taylor, was appointed in 1930. Taylor succeeded Ottewell as Acting Registrar in 1945 and as Registrar in 1946. Taylor served as Registrar until 1956. The Registrar’s Office was housed in two converted classrooms and a small laboratory room on the second floor of the Arts building. The work was divided on a vertical basis. The Registrar was responsible for serving as Secretary of the General Faculty Council and as Secretary of the Senate. From 1946 to 1953 the Assistant Registrar, the Registrar’s Secretary, the Records Clerk, the Scholarship Clerk, and the First Year Committee Clerk all reported to the Registrar. Reporting to the Assistant Registrar were the Admissions Clerk, the Examinations Clerk, and the Professional Examinations Clerk. In 1947-48 the staff consisted of the registrar, the Assistant Registrar, and fourteen clerks and stenographers. In 1956, the Associate Registrar, Mr. Alex Cairns, succeeded Mr. Taylor. He served as Registrar unit 1978. This period witnessed the greatest increase in students and corresponding increase in academic programs in the University’s history. Significant changes followed in both the scope and method of the Registrar’s administrative work. These included: in 1959-60 the newly created Office of the Administration of Student Awards assumed from the Registrar responsibility for scholarships and bursaries; in the same year, the newly created Administrator of Professional Examinations took over responsibility for exams. In 1960-61, electronic data processing began in the Registrar’s Office, several advances in processing records of student grades and courses followed. Amongst these in 1963 a decentralized system of assigning students to classes was introduced in place of the traditional “mass registration,” and in 1968 the Registrar adopted a “nine-point” grading system, and a revised system of weighting courses and of calculating grade-point averages. This resulted in a redesign of a substantial number of recordkeeping forms. Also in 1969 the Registrar relinquished the responsibility for acting as Secretary of General Faculties Council and of its Executive Committee to the newly established University Secretariat. The Registrar remained an ex-officio member of both bodies. In 1969 the Registrar assumed the following significant responsibilities: editing, production, and distribution of University Calendars; management of all centrally scheduled classroom space; and high school liaison. In the early 1970s, changes to the management of student records included: 1971-27, evening credit classes were integrated in day schedules; 1972, first Spring Session introduced; 1973-74, a system of advanced registration is introduced; 1977, the administration of Special Admissions Examinations (NCAT, LAST, TOEFL, etc.) was assumed by the Registrar. In 1972 the Registrar relinquished his duties as Secretary of the Senate and of its various committees to the first full-time Executive Officer of the Senate. From December 1978 to December 31, 1978, the Associate Registrar, Mr. Morgan, served as Acting Registrar. In January, 1980, Dr. W.A. Blanchard, Professor of Psychology, and Associate Dean of Arts since 1972, was appointed Registrar. Brian J. Sizer succeeded him in 1984.