Frank Blalark Named New University Registrar

Frank Blalark, current university registrar at Purdue University, has been named university registrar and assistant vice provost at Duke University. His first day on the job will be Aug. 31.

Blalark was chosen after a national search led by Linda Franzoni, associate dean for undergraduate education in the Pratt School of Engineering.   He succeeds Bruce Cunningham, who has served in the registrar's office since 1996.

“Frank was chosen as a worthy successor to Bruce Cunningham from an outstanding field of candidates,” according to Executive Vice Provost Jim Roberts.   “We had two rounds of interviews with many university constituencies, and everyone was impressed with Frank’s energy and intelligence as well as his experience in student and faculty service, information technology and data analysis. “ 

The registrar is a behind-the-scenes position reporting to the Executive Vice Provost that oversees some of the most sensitive and important information at the university.  Student registration, course scheduling and processing records for all university schools except the School of Medicine are handled through the office. It holds all academic records for students dating back to the 1930s, interprets graduation requirements for students, and on the policy level, tracks changes in federal rules and requirements on issues such as data privacy.

With the digital revolution, the registrar's office at Duke and nationally has taken on even more roles, automating what were once cumbersome manual processes, serving as a data hub to meet a variety of institutional needs, and working to develop more a comprehensive vision of “student records” beyond the traditional transcript.

Blalark said he expects to build on the office’s tradition of student engagement.  "The registrar's office is the hub for data going out," Blalark said from Indiana in an interview this week. "Students want more access to student records.  We want to provide more creative and innovative ways to for students to access them and use them in planning their education."

A former collegiate football player for South Dakota State University, Blalark earned both bachelor's and master's degrees at South Dakota State prior to receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His research examined resource use and associated impacts on institutional graduation rate efficiency.

Prior to joining Purdue, Blalark worked in administrative roles at South Dakota State University, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

His route from the football gridiron to academic administration was an unusual one, Blalark said.  He said he was "a smart kid who got bad grades," until his senior year in college.

"My senior year, my professor got me interested in a graduate program.  I spent that year as a full-time graduate student and a part-time undergraduate while playing football."

The graduate program led to a focus on student affairs. His Ph.D. at Minnesota was in educational policy and administration. While still completing his dissertation, he became director of the registrar's office, and he's been in the field ever since.

Blalark said he's impressed with the collaboration he sees in the Duke registrar's office. "One reason why I'm interested in Duke is it's a place where every student counts and every student graduates. I know I'm going to love the student experience and community here.

"And I hear they play a little basketball."

Blalark praised Cunningham, who is retiring after almost 20 years at Duke in the registrar's office, as someone who is nationally respected in the field. Before arriving at Duke in 1996, Cunningham worked in the registrar's office at St. Louis University and two other colleges.

During his time at Duke, Cunningham received several honors, including a university Teamwork Award. He helped lead Duke’s implementation of the PeopleSoft Student Administration System and also helped an initiative to attract military veterans to Duke.  More recently, he was instrumental in planning student record processes for Duke Kunshan University.