Stanford names new university registrar

With more than 20 years of experience in student services, Johanna Metzgar has demonstrated a deep commitment to students by creating products that have transformed the ways students explore courses and design their academic paths.

Johanna Metzgar has been named the new associate vice provost for student and academic services and university registrar at Stanford.

Metzgar, who is currently associate registrar at the University of California, Berkeley, brings more than 20 years of experience in student services at Cal as well as Columbia University.

Johanna Metzgar

Johanna Metzgar (Image credit: Juliana Golden)

In her previous roles, she streamlined and improved a wide range of academic and administrative processes, including billing, grading, transcript fulfillment, course approval, catalog production, class scheduling, enrollment management, degree audit and graduation checkout. She has demonstrated a deep commitment to students by creating systems that have transformed the ways students explore courses and design their academic paths.

In addition to leading the Registrar’s Office, the associate vice provost for student and academic services oversees the Student Services Center; Student Financial Services; Graduate Admissions; and the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities.

“I am delighted that Johanna will be joining Stanford to lead this critical area of student and academic services,” said Stanford’s Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole. “She brings an outstanding track record of partnership with academic departments and administrative units across complex university structures. We will benefit greatly from her ability to translate student and faculty needs into sound systems and processes.”

Brubaker-Cole said she was “profoundly grateful for the service of the search committee that recruited Johanna,” particularly its chair, Tom Kenny, the Richard Weiland Professor and senior associate dean for student affairs in the School of Engineering.

Before joining Berkeley as associate registrar in 2006, Metzgar worked at Columbia University for 10 years, serving as associate director for the institution’s Division of Student Services and as acting executive director of student services at Columbia’s Medical School. She also served as an associate registrar, assistant registrar and financial aid officer at Columbia.

“I’m deeply moved to be joining Stanford Student Affairs,” she said.  “I admire its commitment to fostering student success, academic excellence, inclusion and equity, and community engagement. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to serve and support the campus alongside the outstanding Student and Academic Services (SAS) team. I look forward to learning everything I can about Stanford, and getting to know our partners across campus as we work to improve and innovate the SAS portfolio.”

Metzgar earned a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in journalism from San Francisco State University.

Metzgar will join Stanford May 21. She succeeds Tom Black, who left Stanford in September 2017 after 10 years as university registrar.