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| Volume 9, Number 2 | September 7, 2001 |
| Work starts on merger of Offices of Student Services & RegistrarWhile the details have yet to be worked out, the U of S has made the decision to combine most of the functions of the Offices of the Registrar and Student Affairs & Services to provide a higher level of service to students. The Board of Governors has endorsed the move and the University is already advertising for a new ‘Associate Vice-President of Student Affairs’ to head up the new integrated office (see advertisement, Page 11). Vice-President Academic and Provost Michael Atkinson says staff from the two merging offices attended a one-day retreat at the Willows Golf & Country Club Aug. 21, to discuss issues involved in the effort to make programs more student-centred, efficient and effective. Atkinson also says he has hired a consultant to help manage the changeover, but he stresses that the U of S program managers and staff are the experts who will design the new services — it won’t be imposed from outside. “I am putting together a working group to focus on designing how our services can fit together,” Atkinson says. He adds this is an opportune time for a fresh new approach for organizing services for students on campus, since both Registrar Ken Smith and Associate Vice-President for Student Affairs & Services Vera Pezer are retiring this year. Also, Atkinson says, initiatives like the U of S Enrolment Plan, just being completed, mean it’s time to rethink how student services are offered. The idea of merging Registrar’s and Students Affairs & Services was the key recommendation in the June report of two senior officials from the Universities of Calgary and Manitoba, whom Atkinson had asked to review U of S services and structures in this area. U of M Vice-Provost David Morphy and U of C Associate Vice-President for Student Services Peggy Patterson visited campus in April and met with more than 35 senior staff and student leaders, as part of their review. The Registrar’s and Student Services Offices currently include: Student Recruitment, International Recruitment, Student Awards, the International Student Advisor’s Office, Student Counselling, Services for Students with Disabilities, Student Health Centre, Aboriginal Students’ Centre, Student Help Centre, and the Student Employment & Career Centre.
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