Meet the Faces of GSDM: Amy Fox Shortall CAS 14 MET 26, Associate Registrar
Amy Fox Shortall’s keen eye and knack for logistics are well-suited to keeping the GSDM Office of the Registrar running smoothly, providing vital support to the institution’s academic programming.
“If you meet other people who work in registrar’s offices, they all have similar personalities,” Fox Shortall said. “I really enjoy organization, and I really enjoy exercising attention to detail. Some aspects of my job are time-consuming and meticulous, and it does require a lot of organizational skills and I feel like that just really jives with my preferences and my personality.”
As the associate registrar, Fox Shortall monitors and organizes all aspects of student registration, tuition/fees, grades, transcripts, student academic records, enrollment/graduation verification, and graduation processing.
Fox Shortall has been in her role since 2021. However, her Boston University journey dates back to 2010, when she started as an undergraduate at the University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She graduated in 2014, but stayed at BU, working in an administrative role at the College of General Studies for four years.
She and her then boyfriend, now husband, left Boston in 2018, bouncing around various locations over a few years. After not finding a permanent fit, Fox Shortall had a strong desire to come back to Boston and find her way into a role within a registrar’s office. She realized Boston University was where she wanted to end up, if possible, and, to her surprise, she saw GSDM had an opening.
“I really wanted to be a registrar ever since I had worked at the College of General Studies. That was my end goal,” Fox Shortall said. “I saw that GSDM was hiring an associate registrar and I figured why not throw my hat in the ring? I submitted an application, and I’ve been here ever since.”
On an average day, Fox Shortall monitors the Office of the Registrar email (sdmreg@bu.edu), responding to questions and requests primarily from students, faculty, and alumni. Other responsibilities vary throughout the year, ranging from enrolling incoming students into their classes in the summer to coordinating the graduation process, including sign out and determination of Latin honors, in the spring.
“The summer, for a lot of folks in education, is the downtime or the quiet time because it’s between the spring and then the next fall, but the summer is really, really busy for us, probably our busiest time here,” Fox Shortall said.
The GSDM Office of the Registrar is closely involved in a major project to update the University’s student information system to MyBU Student. Fox Shortall is focused on ensuring all GSDM academic records are accurate following the system change.
“I have been spending a lot of time in MyBU Student looking at records, fixing records that may have interesting or weird data,” Fox Shortall said.
One of her favorite aspects of her role is working with her supervisor, Elizabeth Bouhmadouche, director of enrollment services & registrar. Fox Shortall credits Bouhmadouche for pushing her beyond her professional comfort zone and boosting her confidence.
“[Bouhmadouche] really pushed me to work on public speaking,” Fox Shortall said. “The first year I was here, I just observed matriculation and then the next year I was presenting at matriculation events. I’ve always been really terrified of public speaking and presentations, so [presenting to] a room full of 100 plus people who you have never met before was really nerve wracking. But, I appreciate that she did it because it’s something that I definitely needed to do.”
Over the years, Fox Shortall has observed that many people hold an inaccurate understanding of what a registrar’s office is like, assuming that any question will lead to a series of unnecessary complications and bureaucratic red tape. She said the entire staff of the GSDM Office of the Registrar constantly strives to improve information, process requests, and find solutions to best assist members of the GSDM community.
“If there’s something that we can do for you within the rules of the institution and GSDM, we will help you,” Fox Shortall said.