The Office of the Registrar received a surprise visit from Chancellor Dorothy Horrell, Provost Roderick Nairn, Milo the Lynx and more on April 30 during a weekly staff meeting. Attendees smiled and laughed as the Black Eyed Peas hit “Let’s Get it Started” played from speakers in the office, and the chancellor entered the room dancing.
The purpose of this pop-up party was to recognize the Office of the Registrar as a distinguishable, outstanding CU Denver team, awarding them the inaugural CU Can-Do Award. This award is a traveling trophy periodically given to teams across campus, including consolidated service units serving both Denver and Anschutz, who model the mindset and actions leading to meaningful change and continuous innovation.
“It is important for the university to recognize the teams and individuals across the campus who not only identify opportunities for ongoing improvement but are empowered to take the risk and make the changes that are required to see results,” Horrell said. “You can call it continuous improvement or process improvement, but the bottom line is that it is a mindset that ‘improving the work is the work.’”
Nairn echoed Horrell’s remarks, saying that the Office of the Registrar is “continuously looking for ways to add value and improve the student experience. You have set the bar high for your colleagues, and we are incredibly proud of what you have accomplished together,” Nairn said.
Significant tangible strides have been made under the Office of the Registrar, as its top priority is always an enhanced student experience. Here are just a few of its major milestones this past year:
- Students received diplomas two weeks earlier than in past years, due to improvements in the graduation checkout flow using Degree Audit.
- Transfer evaluation turnaround time for community college transfers went from three weeks to less than 72 hours.
- Students no longer have to physically go to each school and college for “late add” approval. It’s now one streamlined and consistent online process.
- CU Succeed students no longer have to jump through so many hoops to register, giving them a much better experience and first impression of the university.
Registrar, Carrie John, says, “I am incredibly proud of this team. They are truly talented and bright and you can see the results of their dedication to our students and the campus in the examples of accomplishments recognized today. Their commitment to improving services for our students is remarkable and I’m grateful that they were able to be celebrated for their efforts.”
Rana Tarkenton, executive director of Strategic Impact, invited the team to recognize one another with the Individual Imprint Award, emphasizing the importance of individual contributions and accomplishments.
“If you have a colleague who made a significant contribution to improve a process or complete an important change project, this is your time to recognize them in front of everyone for their impact by giving them an Individual Imprint Award,” Tarkenton said.
Winners of these awards included:
- Allison Diekhoff, for grade forgiveness and for her work on the late-add process
- Marissa Tornatore, for her work on tuition classification and COF streamlining
- Brian Schaeffer, for his work on scheduler and planner implementation
- Ayla Bott, for her work on transfer evaluation streamlining
- Camden Farmer, for his work on transfer evaluation streamlining
Do you know of a team you think deserves recognition for continuous innovation?