One of the University of Houston Victoria’s newest employees started her job working from home, but she has been getting support from her co-workers until a time when everyone can return to campus.

Angela Bigby

Corpus Christi native Angela Bigby began her new position on March 30 as the UHV registrar, the person in charge of student records at the university. UHV administrators previously had announced that all spring semester courses would be offered online through the end of the spring semester after smoke and fire damage in UHV University West made the building unusable after a fire. The COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of uncertainty.

“Even though I am by myself here at home and transitioning into this new position, I have not been alone,” Bigby said. “Everyone at UHV has been extremely nice and helpful, and the people of Victoria have been so kind and accommodating. I am very happy to be here.”

Bigby was hired in mid-March after former UHV registrar Trudy Wortham retired after 35 years. Bigby brings 17 years of experience of working in a registrar’s office to UHV. She worked as an assistant and interim registrar at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., and at Roseman University of Health Sciences in Las Vegas for 13 years.

She also worked as an academic advisor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and San Diego State University. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology from San Diego State University and a Master of Arts in Education from Pacific Lutheran University.

Jose Cantu

“She’s doing an extraordinary job, and even with everything going on, her transition has gone fairly well,” said Jose Cantu, UHV vice president for enrollment management. “We are grateful to have Angela here at UHV with all of her experience and expertise in higher education.”

The registrar provides leadership and expertise in support of institutional enrollment management goals and is responsible for all student academic records and credentials, Cantu said. She also is responsible for conducting registration, supporting degree pathways to graduation, establishing processes that follow administrative policies and procedures, and making sure that Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act rules and regulations are being followed.

Bigby describes the role of registrar as a gatekeeper for the university.

“We’re quiet, and you don’t hear about us or see us, but when someone doesn’t get their transcript or grades are not posted accurately, that’s when you find out what the registrar’s office is,” Bigby said.

Bigby pursued a career in higher education as a way to help pay for her college education. Her first job in higher education was when she was a student and had a work-study position in the continuing education department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. Since then, she has worked in higher education. She is the first in her family to graduate from college.

She and her husband moved to Victoria in the fall from Las Vegas after he retired from a biomedical company, and he is also retired from the U.S. Navy. They chose Victoria because of the town’s proximity to their hometown of Corpus Christi.

This is Bigby’s first time working as a registrar at a public university, and most of her first couple of weeks in the position have been spent learning about the processes of a public university system. One of her goals is to help the community understand what her office does for the UHV community and to serve students professionally and efficiently.

She also looks forward to the day when all employees can return to working on the UHV campus so she can meet other UHV employees and students.

“I am excited to be here at UHV serving our campus community,” she said.