Ray Grant
When it comes to student records, turn to Ray Grant, the new registrar for The John Marshall Law School.
Grant joined the staff on April 8, 2013. He is filling the position previously held by Anna Johnson. As the registrar, he is responsible for the preparation of ABA and IPEDS reports in addition to overseeing the registration, final grade and final exams processes, explained Assistant Dean for Academic Services Jodie Needham.
He also will be responsible for ongoing staff development. “I want the staff to think of working in the Registrar’s Office as more than a job,” he said. “The work really can be a profession, and I think we can be professionals at our jobs” providing better customer service to students, staff, faculty and alumni while improving the delivery systems and procedures.
Grant comes to John Marshall after working a short time at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Fla., and after nine years in various positions in the Registrar’s Office at New York Law School, the second oldest independent law school in the United States.
“I started at the front desk. I became the information specialist, and I enjoyed talking to and helping students in any way I could,” Grant said. He got promoted to the Registrar Coordinator position and started handling veterans affairs issues and later developed a Customer Service Initiative. Grant served as assistant registrar the last five years he was at New York Law School.
“I had a boss who encouraged me to start doing presentations. I wasn’t comfortable talking to groups at first, but over time I got better at it, and the presentations (on customer service and technology) helped me connect with registrars around the country,” he noted.
Grant is technologically savvy and hopes to incorporate technology into future customer service initiatives at John Marshall. “Generation Y or the ‘millennials’ are all about using technology. I know we can use technology to connect with them,” he said.
A native of Guyana, Grant emigrated to the United States in 1989. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in urban affairs from Hunter College of the City University of New York. He hopes once he’s settled into his new routine and had time to explore Chicago he will be able to pursue a PhD in political science.
