The Ontario university registrars recently reviewed the provincial registrarial governance structure, and their alignment with various stakeholder groups in Ontario, including but not limited to, the Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA), Council of Ontario Universities, and the Ontario University Council on Admissions. The goal of the review was to coordinate fragmented registrarial committees and groups to better support universities, the Council of Ontario Universities, and government. At the same time, individual registrars’ offices across Ontario have been reviewing their own structure within the institution with the same goal of increasing their value and influence on campus. This presentation will focus on the outcomes and the road ahead for OURA and on the evolution of select Registrars’ Offices across Canada.

Let’s Network! Join this session to learn some useful networking strategies while meeting registrarial colleagues from across Canada. Exchange ideas and information in a fun and interactive session that provides practical skills you can use immediately, and in your future career path in the Registrar’s Office.

Over twelve months, Bow Valley College reduced delinquent tuition payments by 55% through sweeping and collaborative changes to payment communications and methods.

Bow Valley College is a two-year community college, serving 17,500 students in Calgary, Alberta, with six satellite campuses in the metro Calgary area. In fall of 2019, under a new leader, the student accounts department undertook a thorough review of the communications sent to students explaining how and when to pay their tuition accounts. Using a collaborative approach, subject matter experts from financial aid, international education, the registrar’s office, and marketing broke down tuition payment communications and methods, focusing on clear, actionable, and timely instructions to students. The result was a 55% year-over-year reduction in delinquent tuition accounts, with similar results in subsequent terms. The business benefits included: improved student retention and enrolment, increased revenue, reduced labour costs, and reduced student disciplinary action.

In this session, we will discuss the approaches the cross-campus team took, the communication methods employed, and language used. We’ll also look at before-and-after samples of the student communications, and how you may replicate these approaches and results at your own college or university, with plenty of time for discussion.

At Université de Montréal, schedule planning is managed manually in each one of our 13 faculties and the space assignation is done weeks after. For year, these processes had never been evaluated or challenged. To solve space management problems and to create student-focused schedules earlier each semester for our 45k students, the institution undertook a project to standardize and streamline the processes and to implement new IT tools. This session aims to present the various stages of the project, the leadership needed, the issues and pitfalls encountered, and the change management plan put in place.

Recruiters and marketers need accurate tools to support evidence-based decision-making. Traditional studies study prospects inside the funnel to identify ways to improve existing processes.

This presentation showcases a new research tool that looks outside the funnel: from a prospect’s decision to pursue postsecondary studies to choosing one school from many possibilities.

Join keynote speaker Tim Arnold to continue the conversation on Healthy Tension in this follow-on workshop that brings the keynote to life through lively and practical discussions and activities.

This session was initially proposed in the fall of 2019; it now seems like an understatement to say: “change is constant.” In this session, we will explore coaching as a skillset for leaders to support individual and organizational change management in their institutions. This session will provide an overview of the coaching skills that support change management with examples of how they have been used to enhance organizational culture and support organizational resiliency. Both presenters have led teams through organizational, business process, technological change initiatives, and – like you – a global pandemic, remote work/return to campus/hybrid work, heightened anxiety, and heightened awareness of existing structural racism. They will draw from these higher education scenarios. Participants will reflect on past change management initiatives and discuss how a coach approach can support your teams with future change initiatives at your institutions.

Student mobility, learner-centric and credentials are all hot topics. To facilitate scalable, sustainable exchange of any of these on behalf of our learners, we need a strong foundation built on data. One important part of that foundation is how we identify institutions all around the world who are involved in the ecosystem. Learn from the Canadian PESC User Group about what the free and open PESC GEO Code standard can, and already is, doing to help! As well, the free and open Common Digital Layout (CDL) tool enables receiving institutions to easily generate a human-readable layer on top of PESC XML data resulting in something admissions and transfer staff are comfortable reading.

To meet the emerging needs of learners, in 2019 Red River College embarked on an ambitious journey to revamp the way its academic programs are offered, including but not limited to moving from a program/cohort-based registration model to a course-based model. The project included multiple departments. From the Registrar’s Office perspective, the project meant putting into place clear parameters and frameworks. Join us to learn how the project was approached from the change management perspective, what lessons we learned, and how we are moving forward.

Retaining students beyond the first year has a positive impact on students and on an institution’s financial health and reputation. Concordia developed a predictive test to assign entering students to an attrition risk category before they arrive on campus. High-risk students received direct intervention from the Success Centre. Early identification with early intervention reduced attrition from 21% to 10% and 29% to 6% in the two highest risk groups.

Concordia is transforming “now you see them, now you don’t” to “now you see them, now you still see them.” The benefits flow to every part of the university.

Contact centres (email, phone, chat) are a critical backbone to student service at many postsecondary institutions. This case study covers how Bow Valley College adopted banking and private sector practices to strengthen contact centre security and reduce privacy risk while improving and expediting student service.

Bow Valley College is a two-year community college serving 17,000 learners in Calgary and the surrounding metro area. The college operates a centralized contact centre supporting learners with admissions, enrolment, registration, tuition, transcripts, and general questions. Like many postsecondary institutions and other contact centres, family, friends, and others will sometimes contact the college impersonating a legitimate learner attempting to gain information or affect change on a record. Whether well-intentioned or malevolent, these efforts introduce liability and risk for the institution.

Over the course of several months, Bow Valley College reviewed privacy practices in Canada’s financial sector and other private industries and developed similar practices to verify learners’ identities through phone and online while neither being predictable (easy to memorize/cheat) nor burdensome to staff or caller. Business results included dramatic reductions in risk by virtually eliminating privacy incidents and errors in the contact centre. Service was expedited by locating learner files faster and with fewer validation questions (by leveraging technology) and elevated by not reducing learners to their “student number” or similar impersonal questions.

In this session, Bow Valley College will present our approach, research, and recommendations for validation practices, and leave time for discussion and group sharing of practices and challenges.

Career progression in the Registrar’s Office can be challenging. Over the last few decades the role of the Registrar has become increasingly broad and complex. The unique nature of the role and the lack of registrar-specific educational programs can make it difficult for professionals to progress and for leadership to identify talented and promising individuals. In this roundtable session, two seasoned Registrarial leaders will share their paths to their current roles and call for interactive discussion on specific challenges and strategies to overcome them to advance a career in the Registrar’s Office.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives on campuses rely on student, faculty, and staff demographic data to track progress toward representation and ensure inclusive and adequate services. The collection of more robust demographic data in Canadian post-secondary institutions is relatively new and best practices in the Canadian context are emerging. This panel discussion brings together representatives from Universities in Canada who have launched the collection and reporting of student demographic data, as well as those who are moving in that direction, to talk about the collection, use, storage, and reporting of this data, as well as accountability to the commitment for improvements that the collection of this data elicits.

With a fragmented media landscape and rapidly changing communication preferences among students, it’s easy to stretch your office too thin when it comes to student outreach. For Dalhousie, this has meant taking a strategic look at our communication efforts to assess impact and determine what to keep, what to halt, what to change, and where to go next. Join us to learn how we’ve navigated this changing landscape, while evolving to better meet the needs of our students and our team.

Memorial University recently developed an enrolment risk register to help frame enrolment risks for senior university leadership and the Board of Regents. This session will walk through the development of the enrolment risk register including how we identified the university’s rating drivers, risk controls and overall risk ratings. The presentation will highlight the risk register’s heat map (graphical representation of the register’s findings), discuss how the enrolment risk register relates to the strategic enrolment plan, and more importantly how it is being used by various decision-makers at the institution.

The “Promoting Academic Skills for Success” (PASS) program started at U of T Mississauga in Winter 2015, targeting students at risk of/on probation and those on or returning from academic suspension. In addition to building resilience, the PASS program seeks to improve academic performance, student retention, and graduation rates. Working collaboratively with many UTM partners, this seven-week program focuses on exercises that rebuild motivation, model successful academic behaviors, and raise self-awareness through reflective writing.

L’Université de Montréal, avec ses 45 000 étudiants et 13 facultés, vise la mise en place d’un dossier étudiant électronique unique sécurisé pour chaque étudiant, de la demande d’admission à la diplomation. Pendant cette session, les différentes étapes du projet, ainsi que les enjeux rencontrés seront présentés, selon les points de vue des différentes parties prenantes. Nous répondrons également à certaines questions tel que : comment démarrer un projet d’une telle envergure et quelle est la gouvernance mployees à sa réussite? Quels mployee sont survenus et ont dû être adressés étant une institution très décentralisée? Et mploy sont les impacts pour le personnel académique et administrative d’avoir un dossier 100% en ligne?

Coming soon

A growing collection of research continues to point to the ubiquity and prominence of stories and storytelling as a linchpin of organizations. More than most, the Registrar’s Office is an example of an organization that depends on stories and storytelling for successful operation. Explore theory and research on management, storytelling, and storytelling in organizations, and unravel some of the many ways that a Registrar’s Office relies on stories and storytelling for success. Featuring research and theory on management, storytelling, and storytelling in organizations from David Boje, Ian Mitroff, Ralph Kilmann, Ralph Hummel, Deborah Sole, and Daniel Wilson.

Institutions frequently use consultants in the develop of strategic enrolments plans. Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Memorial University (MUN) recently developed strategic enrolment plans in-house. In this session, we will explore the methodology and strategies used by both SFU and MUN in the development of their respective plans. The session will also examine some of the challenges and opportunities when developing an enrolment plan using only internal resources.

We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in higher education – social change and technological advancement, accelerated by the impact of the global pandemic, require our institutions and professions to change. Hear how AACRAO envisions the future state of the field and how we are actively engaged in preparing our members to meet the rapidly evolving needs and expectations of the learners we serve.

As Dalhousie enters its third century, the notion of inclusive excellence infuses the university’s mission, value statements, and institutional priorities – including Convocation. Learn about Dalhousie’s efforts to design Convocation ceremonies that acknowledge the institution’s history and traditions, but moreover emphasize and celebrate its contemporary diversity and values. We will share promising practices and lessons learned, with particular emphasis on a major, community-wide project to decommission and re-design Dalhousie’s ceremonial mace – a process through which a new and inspiring symbol of place and belonging was developed, and a new approach and ethos for Convocation was solidified.

As institutions build more student-centered organizations, Registrars’ offices remain at the core of service delivery, often from the prospective stage right through to graduation. Our systems function as the first window to the institution and how it will serve students. As our systems age and come up for refresh, more schools are undergoing system transformations and re-considering how they work with their technology and their students. This panel will feature leaders in our field who have either recently gone through system transformations, are currently going through, or are about to embark on that journey. They will share reflections on their process and insights into the roller coaster many of us are on. This will be an interactive session sod participants are encouraged to come with their questions.

L’UdeS est la première université mployees à disposer d’une directive institutionnelle permettant à ses personnes étudiantes et mployees d’utiliser un prénom, un nom ou un genre pour interagir au sein de la communauté universitaire.
La mise en place de cette directive a nécessité une étroite collaboration entre plusieurs services, ainsi que la réalisation de nombreuses étapes en amont et en aval de sa mise en vigueur :

• consultation de divers mploy de la communauté universitaire;
• mployees internes de modifications;
• courriels de communications aux personnes étudiantes et mployees;
• attestation de modification;
• communications internes aux facultés;

What are examples of day-to-day challenges that “get you down” or make your job more difficult? How much does family history or current personal situation influence how we work through personal challenges or operate in the workplace? How can we better navigate these challenges?

This group discussion centers around how we can shift our perspective about disruptive or challenging experiences, how we can identify opportunities for growth, and the tools we can deploy to help with both productivity and personal happiness. Utilizing focus, meditative practice, mindfulness concepts, compassion exercises, and radical acceptance to navigate the professional and personal challenges of a constantly changing world, we will help build a stronger awareness of situations that can or will present challenges for us as individuals.

Presenters will discuss the collaborative initiative undertaken at U of T Mississauga to permit Accessibility staff to view and provide feedback for a student’s petition request. Utilizing a new platform, staff can thoroughly review a student’s request for consideration while ensuring the university meets its statutory responsibility to accommodate students with disabilities in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

We will discuss:

• The unique challenges students with disabilities experience in postsecondary education
• How staff and resources have been positively impacted by this collaboration
• The online petition process from a staff and student perspective

The Quebec Inter-University Transfer Agreement or Autorisation d'études hors établissement (AEHE) allows students registered at any of the province's universities to take courses, which will count toward a degree at their home university.

Since 2002, Quebec university students have been using a dated interface of the AEHE inter-university transfer system with forms and processes that are basically shells and the student’s personal and academic details must be manually entered for each request.

Starting with the Summer 2020 term, students access a newly revamped AEHE inter-university system that is now integrated with the student information systems of all 18 Quebec universities. Students login with their home university credentials and their personal and academic information is pulled in and the process begins.

This session will present an overview of the agreement and the new interface, discuss the use of APIs and the collaborative process that made the enhancement project possible.

The University of Montreal, with its 45k students and 13 faculties, has undergone the process of transforming all paper forms into online forms and associated online workflows. This session aims to present the various stages of the project, the issues and pitfalls faced in the course of the project, and the points of view of the different stakeholders. We will address such questions as: How did we start this project and what institutional leadership was required? What issues did we encounter being in a decentralized institution? What were the implications for our staff?

Tuition and life costs are increasing, but are students prepared to take on this financial responsibility? For many young adults, the cost of participating in post-secondary education is one of their first major financial accountabilities. Financial literacy programs and supports can help students improve the knowledge and confidence in managing their financial obligations. This session includes an overview of literature findings relating to student financial literacy and financial stress, thoughts on the role of financial literacy/financial education in higher education, and practical solutions for institutions to consider.

Failing to tailor project management to your institution’s unique needs can unnecessarily stretch limited resources across competing priorities. Through OCAD University examples of small- and medium-sized Student projects, participants at all levels can generate tailoring ideas for their own institutions while respecting data governance principles. This session will include brief overviews of project management and data governance, why the two need to intersect, our approach to program and project management by non-IT staff, the intersect with our data governance team, a review of our project assessment structure, and a detailed look at our standardized project template and communication pieces.

Join your RO colleagues for an EDIA Birds of a Feather session. We’ll facilitate a discussion about your needs and challenges in adopting EDIA practices, and what ARUCC can do to support your current and future efforts.

In Fall 2019, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson U) launched an online awards management system, AwardSpring. The system has streamlined the application process for students, as they are matched to awards, and it allows them to be considered for awards by completing one application. AwardSpring facilitates the award administration process for staff and faculty.

This hands-on session will explore how to develop a department plan that includes SMART goals that can easily support short-term operational needs and a longer-term strategic vision. There are many variations of SMART. For the purposes of this session, SMART will be translated as Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Trackable. At the end of this session, participants will have one or two goals designed to support an operational or personal development plan.

The Digital Diplomas’ pilot project at McMaster University was initiated in 2019 for the graduates of the Faculty of Engineering. More than 940 undergraduate engineering, Bachelor of Technology and Computer Science students received the institution’s first-ever cryptographically signed and verifiable digital diplomas in addition to a traditional paper copy. The pilot project marks a first for any Canadian university and solidifies McMaster’s position at the forefront of innovation. 

As the global pandemic began to impact different areas across campus, the Office of the Registrar was challenged to embrace creative and innovative solutions to service delivery. Expanding the Digital Diplomas’ initiative was a key opportunity; we offered all Spring and Fall graduates, in 2020 and 2021, the opportunity to opt-in to receive a verifiable digital copy of their diploma.

McMaster’s digital diplomas provide students with a self-sovereign, independently verifiable credential on the Bitcoin blockchain. The benefits of this for students from countries in turmoil became all too evident when COVID began shutting down work locations around the globe including here in Canada.  With many workplaces closed, students couldn’t access critical documents like diplomas or transcripts. 

McMaster University is a member of the Digital Credential Consortium (DCC) headed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and 11 other leading universities. Other pilot projects are underway at McMaster to explore the new Verifiable Credentials and Distributed Identifiers standards, and without a dependency on blockchain. In this session, you will learn more about McMaster’s journey with digital credentialing, the student’s experience and the technical effort that took place behind the scenes. You will also find out why the University is moving away from blockchains.

En place depuis l'automne 2017, la veille téléphonique par les pairs permet aux étudiantes et étudiants des programmes participants de bénéficier à la mi-session d'un échange téléphonique personnalisé avec une ou un étudiant expérimenté ayant complété sa première année dans le même domaine d'études.

Les centres d'entraide à l'étude par les pairs permettent aux étudiants de bénéficier de l'aide bénévole de pairs expérimentés du même domaine d'études afin de les appuyer dans leurs apprentissages académiques:

• contexte, origine et description de l'initiative;
• projet pilote et déploiement;
• faits saillants et bilan

Identifying and establishing service values is an excellent team building activity that can improve staff engagement and relationships between units within the office, with students, and campus stakeholders. This session outlines the process that can be used to develop and establish values and highlights an implementation process to action the values and achieve a positive culture change across your organization.

Join this session to learn how your counterparts at different institutions are creating new service models and transforming their practices to advance learner mobility and enhance efficiencies using digitization and innovative technology available through MyCreds™ | MesCertif™. This moderated session will provide an update on the National Network supported by a panel of institutional leaders who will share their stories and best practice advice. The presenters will share how they are transforming support of learners across multiple departments and credential types by enhancing their document service delivery and verification practices. MyCreds™ | MesCertif™ is currently supporting millions of learners in Canada and around the world with instantaneous official document and credential sharing with Canadian postsecondary institutions, government, banks and employers. The digital wallet provided to each learner and the subsequent self service supports ensure they can share their official credentials when and where they want on a 24/7 basis, allowing institutions to refocus their efforts on other transformational service initiatives. With the support of government and institutional funding, this new Network powered by Digitary CORE technology is operating at scale across entire provinces with a growth acceleration trajectory that is unmatched. Join us to learn more from your colleagues as they work to meet needs across the learner life cycle, including with microcredentials, digital diplomas, letters, and more.

À l’UdeM, la production des horaires de cours est effectuée manuellement dans chacune des 13 facultés. Aussi loin que nous pouvons remonter, ce mode de fonctionnement n’a jamais été révisé. Afin de répondre aux besoins des 45 000 étudiants et de résoudre plusieurs problématiques de conflits d’horaires et le manque criant d’espace, l’institution souhaite, dans la foulée d’un projet pilote, optimiser l’utilisation d’outils informatiques afin de centraliser la création d’horaires. Dans cette session, nous vous présenterons les phases du projet, la gouvernance, les enjeux et les défis rencontrés ainsi que le plan de gestion de changement nricher e pour y arriver.

Join Alyson Murray and Kathryn Tector as they walk you through a research project into what students think, feel, and do at each stage of their decision-making process, from awareness and accepting through to planning and arriving. The team at Dalhousie looked at four different segments, looking for similarities and uniqueness: Atlantic Canadians, Ontario West, African Canadian and Indigenous students. The cross disciplinary team involved in the research gained significant insights about attracting and retaining students. We will share lessons learned from the research and how it informed recruitment, marketing, student affairs and collaboration.

For the Fall 2019 admission cycle, Simon Fraser University implemented new high school admission requirements. The former admission model had not changed in 12 years and an assessment of how admitted students actually performed in first year was needed. As a result, admission processes and policies changed, the university community learned new requirements, and over 11,000 prospects still needed to apply. This presentation delves into the highs and lows of implementing large-scale change and the impacts to both internal and external stakeholders by focusing on why the former admission model needed to change, how it changed, and what was included in the review and implementation process.

Perhaps Bob Dylan said it best, “Oh the times, they are a changing.” In the Canadian context of registrarial practice, change is the new normal. Sometimes we initiate and lead change initiatives, and sometimes we must react quickly to a change requested of us from an outside body. This session will explore the concept of change management through examples and case studies so that we can thrive through change, not just survive.

For the blurb: Lean is a system of organization principles to maximize value and eliminate waste. Join a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt in a fun and interactive Lego experience to learn the fundamentals of Lean and get you thinking about its application in higher education.

Most Human Resources representatives and employers do not spend enough time onboarding their new hires. According to the Wynhurst Group, 22% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment due to ineffective employee onboarding. As a result, we experience loss of productivity, time, & resources, and miss the opportunity to form meaningful relationships and strengthen our employee retention. So how can organizations achieve better onboarding results?

In this interactive discussion, we will define onboarding for what it really is, and dispel the myths around onboarding being synonymous with orientation. Drawing on success strategies from accelerating transitions expert Michael D. Watkins, and LinkedIn Talent Solutions learnings on effective employee recruitment and retention, attendees will be guided on a transformative journey of reflection, teachings, and learnings. A tangible six-step strategy for effective employee onboarding will be offered for participants to immediately implement within their own organizations.

By the end of this session, attendees will be more familiar with onboarding as an integral organizational process. Most importantly, they will understand how effective employee onboarding can – and should – lend itself to transforming employee development best practices.

Starting in 2019, the University of British Columbia introduced a new admissions academic assessment methodology that considers all Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses students presents, including consideration of breadth, rigour and relevancy of coursework. This presentation is a sequel to the 2018 ARUCC presentation: “Comprehensive Undergraduate Admissions II: The Transcript Strikes Back” to report back on our first admissions cycle using a more comprehensive admissions assessment process. This presentation will review the implementation of a broader academic assessment, lessons learned, and reflections on preliminary findings.

A pandemic, virtual outreach, social unrest, flexible admissions requirements, scramble for visas: Recruiting and admitting international students may never be the same. The question on our collective minds is: what’s next? This session will present timely updates and trends, including recent findings on international student preferences from the College Board, what is ahead for testing, and learnings from university leaders on current challenges and opportunities in the arena of global student recruitment. Insights on international student behavior, including admissions testing, will also be shared by an interactive panel representing a diverse group of institutions.

After allowing students to upload documents requested after submitting their application for admission, UdeM chose not to ask all the newly admitted students to hand over the original version of the uploaded documents but to sample a segment of the admitted or enrolled student population. This session’s goal is to present the processes undertaken and the challenges we faced through the implementation, looking particularly at the student experience and the expectations of the university’s leadership.

Depuis l’automne 2004, l’Université de Sherbrooke nric un programme de libre accès au transport en commun pour ses étudiantes et étudiants. Une entente est également intervenue pour faciliter le transport du personnel employé. Depuis 2018, l’Université de Sherbrooke et la Société de transport de Sherbrooke utilisent la même technologie induite dans une carte étudiante partagée. Misant sur cette réussite, la carte sert également d’accès aux locaux de l’Université (incluant les nricher e étudiantes), d’accès au transport en commun interurbain Sherbrooke-Montréal (personnel employé), d’accès au Centre sportif, d’accès aux évènements sportifs, d’identification électronique pour les services de la nricher e (livres, impressions, cafétéria), etc. En discutant des possibilités de développements futurs et des enjeux de la carte étudiante et nricher, l’Université de Sherbrooke veut partager son nricher e et nricher les discussions avec les initiatives des autres universités présentes à l’atelier.

Toronto Met first started asking students (as well as faculty and staff) in 2019 to participate in the Diversity Self-ID. This was a way of learning where we are in terms of equity, diversity and inclusion, and building the path to where we want to be. This session will serve to share lessons learned, barriers we've overcome, what we've done with the data, and how we're moving forward in the Registrar's Office. Come to engage in conversation and hear how asking these important questions supports better outcomes for student equity groups.

With PESC Approved Standards, EdExchange and GEO Code, PESC and its user community are ready to connect globally to all digital stakeholders worldwide. Digital connectivity between stakeholders (government agencies, Ministries of Education, departments, vendors, universities, colleges, hubs, application centers, among many others) is the key factor that drives data portability and mobility. Digital connectivity is achieved using many different types of standards in many different languages. No single standard can serve all the various needs of education, but together we can achieve digital connectivity in support of global mobility.

If you are a small institution or a smaller campus or faculty looking for inspiration, come hear how some similar-sized institutions have successfully managed significant projects, implementations etc. with relatively limited resources. You’ll have an opportunity to share your own success stories and learn from the experiences of others.

Après avoir permis aux candidats de téléverser leurs documents à l’admission, l’UdeM a choisi d’échantillonner les étudiants à qui elle exige de voir les documents originaux. Ainsi, seul un segment des nouveaux étudiants admis et inscrits doit fournir leurs documents originaux. L’objectif de la séance est de présenter le processus par lequel nous avons établi l’échantillon, en présentant les phases d’implantation du projet et les défis rencontrés et en tenant compte des attentes des étudiants et de la direction de l’Université.

Join us for this interactive discussion that targets current issues related to higher education financial aid and student awards. Come prepared to share ideas both within small group discussions and among the larger group. Session registrants will have an opportunity to provide input on content prior to the Conference.

Living with high levels of sustained stress can have a serious impact on both our physical and psychological health. Practicing mindfulness can help individuals better manage stress and build their resilience. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts, defines mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” This presentation will highlight the science of mindfulness and the associated benefits; provide participants with an opportunity to engage in different mindfulness practices; and outline strategies for incorporating mindfulness into daily life.

The Ontario university registrars recently reviewed the provincial registrarial governance structure, and their alignment with various stakeholder groups in Ontario, including, but not limited to, the Ontario University Registrars’ Association (OURA), Council of Ontario Universities, and the Ontario University Council on Admissions. The goal of the review was to coordinate fragmented registrarial committees and groups to better support universities, the Council of Ontario Universities, and government. At the same time, individual registrars’ offices across Ontario have been reviewing their own structure within the institution with the same goal of increasing their value and influence on campus. This presentation will focus on the outcomes and the road ahead for OURA and on the evolution of select Registrars’ Offices across Canada.

Seneca College has had long-standing partnerships with its neighbouring universities, Toronto Metropolitan (formerly Ryerson U) and York, encompassing an estimated 40-50 years. This study, using administrative databases, tracked the mobility patterns of Seneca’s business students who transferred between Seneca, York or Toronto Metropolitan, in either direction, during the years 2012 to 2017. Results showed that key drivers of student success (GPA and retention) post-transfer include a student’s GPA prior to transfer and math assessment scores at Seneca, regardless of pathway (university to college or college to university). The study findings can be used both to inform existing transfer agreements and to help support transfer students.

In 2016, Canada had the second-highest rate of refugee resettlement in the world, admitting 46,700 refugees. The recognition of qualifications held by refugees, including interrupted studies, becomes critical to facilitate their settlement in Canada, in pursuing postsecondary studies and employment.

Join this session to learn how your counterparts at different institutions are creating new service models and transforming their practices to advance learner mobility and enhance efficiencies using digitization and innovative technology available through MyCreds™ | MesCertif™. This moderated session will provide an update on the National Network supported by a panel of institutional leaders who will share their stories and best practice advice. The presenters will share how they are transforming support of learners across multiple departments and credential types by enhancing their document service delivery and verification practices. MyCreds™ | MesCertif™ is currently supporting millions of learners in Canada and around the world with instantaneous official document and credential sharing with Canadian postsecondary institutions, government, banks and employers. The digital wallet provided to each learner and the subsequent self service supports ensure they can share their official credentials when and where they want on a 24/7 basis, allowing institutions to refocus their efforts on other transformational service initiatives. With the support of government and institutional funding, this new Network powered by Digitary CORE technology is operating at scale across entire provinces with a growth acceleration trajectory that is unmatched. Join us to learn more from your colleagues as they work to meet needs across the learner life cycle, including with microcredentials, digital diplomas, letters, and more.

The COVID pandemic created a space for decisive action and quick change, the likes of which higher education has never known before. In the wake of this intoxicating pace we are experiencing damage to the collegial and collaborative decision-making models that are the hallmark of higher education. Using lessons from ARUCC and our home institutions this session explores how we can move our organizations forward to more collaborative decision making while retaining the best aspects of the recent era.

At ARUCC 2018, Julie Hummel & Chris Brunskill presented on Laurier's journey to revitalize the Admissions office. In the years since, Admissions doubled down on positive change – just in time for a global pandemic. But, instead of derailing the trajectory, past successes paid dividends and the pace of change accelerated. Staff structures, job descriptions, partnerships, processes, and technology have continued to evolve, making the current Admission's office nearly unrecognizable from just a few years ago. Join us as we share our continued journey through revitalization and set the stage for the reinvention that is yet to come.