Subserie 3 - Contemporary Studies, Early Modern Studies, and History of Science and Technology Programmes

The position of Registrar was established by The Statutes, Rules and Ordinances of the University of King's College at Windsor in the Province of Nova Scotia, 1803. The other officers of the University were the "Vice-President, or Dean, Bursar, and Proctors." The structure of this element of the University of King’s College administration continued with minor adjustments through to the 1950s.

In 1954, the Board of Governors moved that "a small committee be appointed to review the whole internal administration of the College, and to define the respective duties of the Treasurer, the Bursar, the Registrar, the Dean of Residence, the Dean of Divinity, the Public Relations Officer, and other officers of administration, and to confer with the incoming President at their mutual convenience and to report to the Executive at the earliest possible date. The Report of the Bishop's Committee on Personnel, presented to the Board in Nov 1954, recommended the creation of the position of Vice President and combining the Registrar and Public Relations Officer positions into one role.

In recent decades, the Registrar's role has grown from a part time position held by a professor who also had teaching responsibilities, to a full time Registrar whose office has several staff members and operates on a business model designed to maintain and even increase revenue to the University.

The Office takes care of students' day-to-day requests and assists them throughout their undergraduate years. In addition to recruitment, admissions, registration, academic advising and Encaenia, the Registrar's activities include retention of students; presiding at Matriculation; distributing scholarships and bursaries; calculating grade point averages; determining eligibility for graduation and Encaenia award winners; and issuing transcripts. The Registrar's Office responds to requests for information and assistance from students who present a wide range of questions, problems or concerns; staff are in regular contact with other student service units at King's and Dalhousie to provide individual support, referral and case management.

The Registrar's Office is a student's primary resource for scholarships, bursaries and financial aid. Staff provide individual financial advising and budgeting assistance, offer information about bursaries and temporary loan programs, and assist in resolving problems with student loans.