New registrar announced

This July, Dr. Hansford Epes, registrar of eleven years, faculty member of 48 years, and Davidson graduate class of 1961 is set to retire. The College has chosen Angie Boyer Dewberry, Davidson alumna and current registrar of Agnes Scott College, to succeed him.

Dewberry majored in history at Davidson and graduated in 2000, after which she earned her master's degree in history from Virginia Commonwealth University.  In 2005, she began work in the registrar's office of Oglethorpe University. "I found I really liked the registrar's office," she told College Communications. "I liked the fact that registrars interact with a lot of different constituents of a college, including students, faculty, staff and alumni. The job also utilizes my strengths in attention to detail and careful record-keeping." After three years at Oglethorpe University, Dewberry became associate registrar of Agnes Scott College, and was promoted to registrar the following year.

Dewberry values the opportunity to return to Davidson as the College registrar. "As an alumna, I look back at my time at Davidson with a great appreciation for the skills I learned and friends I made," she said in an email. "Since I care so much about Davidson, I think it adds a level of commitment to my job.  I am not only safeguarding the academic records of current students, but also my own record and the transcripts of all of my friends."

The college registrar occupies a vital position in the academic administration of the college.  The registrar's duties, contrary to popular belief, reach far beyond webtree and course enrollment.   Dewberry will be responsible for managing course scheduling, records and facilities and transfer credits. Like Epes, she will also monitor students' progress toward graduation, while also being involved in broader discussions of academic policies and goals. She will also be supervising four staff members as the senior administrator in the Office of Academic Affairs.

Dewberry impressed the registrar search committee with her excellent instincts and values, as well as her engaging personality.  She came to Davidson after attending high school in California and excelled here as a varsity soccer player, a hall counselor and member of Rusk house. She received a North Carolina State teaching certificate through the education program at Davidson.

Having been away from Davidson for twelve years, our new registrar is likely to be surprised by the many changes that have taken place.  She looks forward to being exposed to Davidson's unchanging core values as well as its new features and policies. "I am looking forward to working with faculty on implementing the new distribution requirements.  I saw the new Teaching and Learning Center and am eager to assist staff and faculty with this in any way possible," Dewberry said.

Undoubtedly, students will be anxious to see how a new registrar will affect the WebTree system.  Dewberry seems to be very aware of this concern as a former student herself. "I want to learn more about how WebTree is working for students.  When I attended, we also used the tree, but it was a scantron that we completed with a #2 pencil."  

While Dewberry has experience as a college registrar, the experiences she had at Agnes Scott will likely differ from those at Davidson. Though the office functions will be largely the same, Agnes Scott is a women's college even smaller than Davidson. "It will be a change to return to a larger, co-ed college in a small town.  The Registrar's Office at Davidson has more staff members and I am looking forward to working with four women at Davidson who possess a lot of institutional knowledge and love for the college," she said.

Dewberry will begin her employment on July 1 and encourages students who will be on campus over the summer to visit her and the registrar's office, which will be open for the summer.