As shared at AACRAO Annual Conference 2026
AI Reading List
for Registrars
Every source behind our AACRAO 2026 field guide — reports, articles, podcasts, and Tondro resources curated for registrars and institutional leaders who want to go deeper.
Reports & Research
94% adoption, 13% measure ROI. Joint survey of 2,500+ higher ed professionals. The most-cited stat in our booklet and the essential baseline on where the sector stands.
Only 15% use AI for credit mobility today — 94% see the potential. Covers the degree audit trust gap and where registrar offices actually stand right now.
Where AI transcript processing stood in 2023. OCR scored 98% accuracy but averaged ~10 errors per page. A useful baseline for understanding how fast the field has moved since.
Only one-third of organizations globally have operationalized AI. Two-thirds still piloting. Higher ed lags. A grounding read when the hype gets loud.
The foundational federal study on transfer credit loss — still the most-cited benchmark in the field. Transfer students lose an average of 43% of earned credits. Given the growth in non-traditional credentials and transfer complexity since 2017, many practitioners believe the real number today is higher.
Articles Worth Reading
Seven accrediting agencies formally backed AI in transfer credit evaluation — a significant institutional signal that the field is ready to move. The CRAC endorsement referenced in our booklet.
Rowan University practitioners on what actually happens when you bring AI into real institutional systems. Honest and practitioner-first — aligned with the Data pillar of our PDC framework.
The clearest short read connecting demographic pressure to technology infrastructure. If your SIS is 10+ years old and the enrollment cliff is real, this connects the dots.
Podcasts & Webcasts
Kelly Doney (CIO, UVA) and Daren Hubbard (CIO, Princeton). The most candid CIO conversation we've found on modernization, AI, and data. Short registration form required.
AACRAO's flagship registrar podcast. Season 8, Ep. 3 covers UC Berkeley's computational approaches to transfer credit — one of the most ambitious AI initiatives in the country.
Dr. Abby Kinch (SVA), Coby Dillard (UT Tyler), and James Dalton (Texas A&M). 200,000+ service members transition annually — why AI-driven evaluation at point of application changes everything.
From Tondro
CAMS was built for a different era of higher education. A practical look at the risks institutions still running on it are already living with — and the right questions to start asking.
Is the enrollment cliff actually an operations failure? Why institutional solvency now depends on transfer credit efficiency — and what AI does to change that math.
Three high-friction admissions workflows using Salesforce Agentforce — operational, governed, and deployed in a fraction of the traditional implementation timeline.
How Unity grew enrollment 1,000% by modernizing on Salesforce — a case study in intentional transformation and what it looks like when systems actually align with strategy.
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