Registrars Want Emotional Intelligence In College Administration

Conference of Registrars of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (CORECOEN) has emphasised the strategic role of emotional intelligence in institutional leadership and navigating accreditation processes.

They stated this at their 64th regular conference and general meeting at Abuja’s National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) headquarters.

Declaring the conference open, the executive secretary of NCCE, Prof. Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, described the theme of the event, ‘Leveraging Emotional Intelligence in Managing the Chief Executive and Navigating Accreditation Complexities for Success: The Role of the Registrars’, as timely and relevant.

He said the registrar is no longer just a record keeper but a strategic partner and custodian of institutional memory in today’s dynamic educational environment.

Okwelle stressed that where emotional intelligence is lacking, even the best administrative structures can falter, but where it is nurtured, conflict is resolved constructively and institutional harmony is sustained.

He urged registrars to complement their chief executives rather than compete with them, stating that mutual respect and collaboration are critical for effective governance.

In his keynote address, Dr Abdulkarim Bello Norde, chairman of CORECOEN, said the theme was chosen to reinforce the progress in reducing conflicts between Registrars and chief executives across institutions.

He outlined how emotional intelligence, which involves managing emotions and empathising with others, has contributed to the current atmosphere of peace in many Colleges.

He also emphasised the registrar’s central role in accreditation, especially institutional accreditation, and called for greater administrative preparedness and relationship management.

In his goodwill message, Danladi Ali Msheliza, president of the Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN), commended the registrars for their resilience in managing delicate institutional relationships.

He described registrars as the central nervous system of Colleges, often caught between staff demands and leadership directives. He urged continued cooperation with unions, assuring that SSUCOEN’s engagements are rooted in dialogue and geared toward institutional development.