Derickson to take assistant provost position in March

Christopher Derickson, the current associate registrar, will take over as assistant provost and University registrar on March 15.

The registrar, who reports to the provost, is responsible for managing registration, assigning classrooms, gathering grades and sending out transcripts, notifying students of academic eligibility and supervising graduation procedure.

It is one of the most visible administrative positions to students.

What does the registrar do?

- The registrar’s office is a branch of the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. He oversees registration, assignment
of class space, collection of grades, reporting of academic eligibility, administration of the graduation process and issuance of transcripts for UNC’s 18,000 undergraduates.

- The office is also responsible for a significant portion of ConnectCarolina, the University’s transition to an integrated software platform for student, personnel and finance records.

Derickson comes into the office with experience in advising, admissions, teaching and the registrar’s office, and said he hopes to make the office work better for students.

“I’ve found that what I enjoy most is knowing that I’m making students’ lives better and easier as an administrator,” he said.

He will relieve associate registrar Roberta Kelly, who has held the position as interim University registrar since July 2009 when the former registrar, Alice Poehls, stepped down.

Bruce Carney, who serves as interim executive vice chancellor and provost, said he was happy to hire Derickson.

“He’s very familiar with how the registrar’s office has been working and how it’s going to be working in the future,” Carney said.

Similarly, Assistant Provost Lynn Williford, who led the search committee, said she’s pleased with the decision.

“We interviewed a number of people with a preliminary interview, brought three on campus, and Chris Derickson just stood out in the end,” Williford said. “He had the right combination of experience and has a lot of great ideas.”

Derickson has served as associate registrar for the past two years, leading the launch of ConnectCarolina, a new integrated computer system that will organize administrative, faculty and student information into one program.

The transition to ConnectCarolina will be a major component of Derickson’s tenure as registrar.

ConnectCarolina will make its debut for current students in early March, when students can access a new list of courses and their availability. Classes can be grouped into a personal online shopping cart so that by registration time on April 12, signing up for classes should be simpler than under the old system.

“My most immediate goal is to make sure this registration goes as well as possible and making that big shift go as seamlessly as it can,” Derickson said.

As the new registrar, Derickson said he plans to form an advisory group, which would include advisers, admissions officers, representatives from professional schools and students.

“I want to be constantly taking consideration of their needs on campus,” he said.

Derickson emphasized the importance of communication between faculty, staff and students. He said he wants advisers to feel comfortable with the new registration program as soon as possible so as to make the process go smoothly for everyone involved.

“I want an open door policy,” he said. “I want them to feel that they can come right to me for help.”

In the long term, Derickson said he really wants to be an invisible guide for campus.

“The best compliment a registrar can get from students is that things are nice and quiet,” he said. “It’s like how you only really notice the ref if he messes up.”

Overall, Williford is satisfied with the whole situation.

“We were very lucky that he was here on our own campus who turns out to be the best in the country as far as we’re concerned,” she said.

“This was one of those searches that had a very happy ending and I was happy to be a part of the process.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.