A new school. A familiar mission.

Throughout her career, Detrenyona Chester has held pivotal roles in academic affairs, recruitment and admissions, and enrollment management. She has brought her wealth of experience and skills to her new role as registrar at Clark University, joining Clark on July 15.

Chester comes to Clark from Edward Waters University, in Jacksonville, Florida, where she served as registrar. Before that, she was a director of admissions operations at Life University in Marietta, Georgia, and served over a decade in various administrative roles at Albany State University in Albany, Georgia.

The youngest of 10 children, Chester is a first-generation college student who earned her bachelor’s degree and MBA from Albany State University and Doctor of Education from Columbus State University. The Georgia native was raised in the small rural town of Dawson and has spent a majority of her career in the southeastern United States. She initially viewed Clark University as “a world away,” but grew excited about the prospect of working here after researching the institution’s commitment to research excellence, social responsibility, and a comprehensive educational experience.

“The beautiful campus and the welcoming, friendly community” connected with her in just one visit, she recalls. Chester says she found a sense of unity, togetherness, and support, along with a genuine appreciation for diversity, that made Clark stand out and meshed with her potential to contribute significantly to the institution.

The registrar is essential to the efficient operation of any university. The person filling the position is crucial to ensuring the smooth operation of academic processes and upholding the integrity of the institution’s academic records, as well as serving as the hub of the institutional ecosystem, from point of enrollment to alumni status. According to the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers, a registrar is the chief academic officer of student records and is responsible for ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, management of academic records, course enrollment, registration processes, academic calendar, transcript certification, transfer processes, data reporting, technology integration, and compliance with reporting requirements and educational law, such as FERPA, among other key roles.

At Clark, Chester will be working in partnership with IT to fully digitize systems and processes that will help the University transition into a paperless environment and prepare for future implementation of a documentation management system. It’s a familiar mission: She previously led the successful effort to move Life University from paper to digital.

Chester recalls serving as Core Team Lead for Ellucian Colleague implementation at Edward Waters University, noting how the shift in systems provided chairs and academic departments with more flexibility to monitor and interact with students, faculty, and advisors. It also empowered students by giving them the resources needed to play a more active role in planning and accessing their schedules while assuring accuracy with their degree planning.

Chester says that, alongside IT, and in partnership with deans and chairs, she will be looking at ways to strengthen and improve processes for students, faculty, and administrators through automation. “Sometimes that can mean streamlining those processes and exploiting optimization in areas where we can,” she says. “The idea is to better use technology to help us evolve as an institution in a way that truly addresses our needs, effectively and efficiently.”