Marla Herron, the first of five candidates selected to visit campus for the position of the University Registrar, hosted her open forum Thursday.

Herron, the senior associate registrar at the University of Kansas, gave a 20-minute presentation titled “The Role of the Registrar in Strategic Enrollment Management.”

Becoming a university’s registrar is a “career goal” for Herron who explained that she is legally blind and hopes “to be a role model for students with disabilities.”

Herron explained in her presentation that the role of the registrar is to support the academic mission of the university.

“We’re [the registrar] here in order to free up faculty in their teaching and research,” Herron said. “I and my team [at the University of Kansas] were responsible in part of every single student.”

Herron feels that the registrar position gives her the opportunity to “contribute to the academic achievement” of every student at a university.

There were three main roles of the registrar that Herron expounded on during the open forum. Herron believes Iowa State’s new registrar should be a visionary leader, have strong enrollment management skills and a strong set of personal values.

“We need to think strategically,” Herron said, who believes in five and 10 year plans. “You have to be thinking everyday about how to communicate with your constituents.”

Herron wants the registrar’s office to be “above reproach in ethical standards” explaining that the registrar is the academic integrity of the university.

The open forum allowed time for the 25 faculty and staff members present to ask Herron questions at the end of her presentation. Questions ranged from athletic policies to possible future technology to be used by the university.

The next open forum for the position of the registrar will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday with candidate Tammy Aagard. The three other finalists, Laura Doering, Earl Hawkey and Karen Jarrell, will have their open forums throughout next week.