The registrar's office had a staff of 42, including 28 clerks whose only job was keeping up with students' paper records. The clerks updated records twice a week, using the keypunch cards in a batch operation.
By Larry B. Dendy
When Bruce Shutt became registrar at the University of Georgia in 1975, students had to stand for hours in long lines to register for classes using keypunch cards.
The registrar's office had a staff of 42, including 28 clerks whose only job was keeping up with students' paper records. The clerks updated records twice a week, using the keypunch cards in a batch operation.
Soon after Shutt retires next June, students will be able to complete registration in minutes from any place where they can get to a computer with a modem. The registrar's office now has only about 28 people on the entire staff, and students' computerized records now are updated minute-by-minute daily.
"With the aid of information technology, we created the OASIS registration system, which is second to none," says Shutt. "The next stage will be to put OASIS on the World Wide Web, which will allow students to register online from anywhere, and will make all permanent student records Web-accessible."
Striking advances in technology are a hallmark of Shutt's tenure as registrar--a tenure that spans the administrations of four presidents and includes such milestones as the national football championship, UGA's bicentennial and the school's rise to national prominence.
His retirement at the end of this academic year will conclude a 37-year career in education that began as a junior high school teacher and coach in Illinois. He was associate registrar and admissions director for 12 years at Indiana University--where he earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in education--before joining UGA as registrar.
In 1979, Shutt also became associate vice president for student affairs, with administrative oversight for undergraduate admissions, student financial aid and student information systems. He helped computerize operations of these offices.
Shutt's technology expertise has made him a national leader in professional circles. He has been president of both the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers and the group's Indiana association. He was on the board of directors of the College and University Machine Records Conference, and has been a consultant to other universities and the American Council on Education.
"Dr. Shutt is results-oriented, and is fully committed to the academic integrity of the records he maintains," says Dwight Douglas, vice president for student affairs. "The OASIS registration system was years ahead of most other schools, and has been nationally recognized by such companies as IBM. The university owes a great debt of thanks to this very trustworthy and able administrator."
Among the registrar's duties is serving as secretary of the University Council and the council's executive committee. Shutt says he has seen the council evolve from a body that was little more than a rubber stamp for presidential decisions to a group fully engaged in deliberating and deciding crucial issues.
As keeper of the academic calendar, Shutt has been deeply involved in planning for semester conversion. And he is also a member of several key university administrative committees, including the committee that plans Commencement.
One of his last acts as registrar will be carrying the University Mace at the head of the Commencement procession next June. The registrar is Grand Marshal for formal academic occasions, and Shutt has led processions for the Bicentennial Convocation, the inauguration of former President Charles Knapp, and for such graduation speakers as Gov. Zell Miller, former Sen. Sam Nunn, Andrew Young and Billy Payne.
Shutt's wife Carol, an administrative secretary in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, will retire three months before he does. They plan a month-long European trip in September, and then Shutt looks forward to gardening, golf and lots of leisure time.
