Dr. Thomas Hanford has been hired to serve as Kutztown University’s new Registrar. Hanford brings more than a decade of registrar experience to KU and will begin his appointment Monday, July 18.
Hanford has substantial history in higher education administration employment and has a great deal of experience as an instructor.
Hanford spent more than 10 years in the Registrar’s Office/Student Registration and Record Services at SUNY Cortland (2010-2022), serving as associate registrar, registrar and executive director. He helped to redefine the office to be a more student-centric environment with a specific unit focused on student outreach, degree completion and student mobility. Hanford oversaw the college’s operational data, development of data systems, led committees and group reporting teams and conducted project management for academic affairs.
As KU’s Registrar, Hanford will serve as the university’s chief student records official and will strategically manage registration for undergraduate and graduate students. He will also manage the administrative, fiscal, human resource, planning and operational functions of the Registrar’s Office. Hanford will coordinate university activities for storing and retrieving academic information, work collaboratively across units in the development and enactment of student policies and practices that support diverse students and will design academic rules to assess students’ progress toward their degrees.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve KU as the University Registrar,” Hanford said. “I have found KU to be a warm, welcoming and student-centered institution and I’m very excited to be part of it.”
For more than a decade, Hanford taught as an instructor at various institutions, including Niagara County Community College, University of Buffalo, Binghamton University and SUNY Cortland. He taught courses including sociology, sociology of deviance, criminal justice, criminology and planning for academic success.
Hanford comes to KU as the former project lead on cross registration and educational pathways in the Office of the Provost at SUNY. As project lead, he performed functional and technical support for cross-registration to all 64 SUNY campuses.
“In addition to significant experience as a Registrar, Hanford comes to Kutztown having been a leader in development of a state system’s cross-registration processes, as well as implementation of the Banner Student Information System,” said Dr. Lorin Basden Arnold, KU provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. “His student-centered focus and technical knowledge will be an asset to Kutztown University.”
Hanford graduated with his Ph.D. in Sociology in 2010 and his master’s degree in sociology in 2004 from the University at Buffalo. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in sociology in 2000 from Oswego State University.
Hanford has served as a member on countless academic and professional committees and has received many awards and honors, including the Distinguished Service Award from Binghamton University and the SUNY Cortland Professional Service Award for Innovation. He served as vice president of the State University on New York Registrar’s Association and has presented at various professional conferences where he provided knowledge and insight on student registration, support and registration best practices.
