“It feels great to be working back on a campus again,” said BCC’s newly-appointed Registrar Arefeen.  

 Migrating from Bangladesh to the Bronx in 1998, Arefeen attended City College for her undergraduate and masters degree in Computer Science. She began working in the Registrar’s Office at Baruch College while she was still in graduate school and, five years later, took on the role at CUNY Central CIS as part of the CUNYfirst implementation team for Campus Community and Student Records.  

 “I love the energy of the students and the interaction we have with them here at BCC, as we try to continually improve our processes around registration and the maintenance of student records,” Arefeen said. “An important part of our work is to provide support for students who are trying to register or get a transcript. We collaborate with their advisers to assist them.” 

 The Registrar’s Office falls under the purview of Enrollment Management and works with nearly all other departments on campus to help eliminate barriers for students and staff needing to assist students. When roadblocks occur, for instance around a student trying to register for a particular class they don’t have a prerequisite for or a faculty member having trouble getting a grade change to go through, the Office steps in to help. 

 Arefeen and her team maintain and manage DegreeWorks, a software system that enables students to see their progress towards completion of their degrees, including courses they have taken and courses they still need to take. “Basically, our goal is to try to make students’ lives from admission to graduation as seamless as possible, ensuring accuracy and integrity of their academic records,” she added.