About Us

The registrars from 32 Maryland institutions gathered on the campus of UMBC in the fall of 2012. At the conclusion of that meeting, seven attendees were charged with forming a state association of AACRAO. The team first contacted admissions officers within Maryland; then outreach began to the District of Columbia. As the team expanded, with members from both MD and DC, the name chosen for this new organization was the Chesapeake and Potomac Association of Registrars and Admissions Officers (CAPACRAO).

After contact with, and guidance from, the national association, the team moved forward. An Executive Board was chosen and outreach to all Maryland and DC institutions of higher education commenced. The formation group drafted and ratified a Constitution, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation and developed a dues structure for members. CAPACRAO incorporated as a Maryland non-profit organization in August 2013 and has applied for 501(c)(6) status from the federal government.

The association’s first annual meeting was held on the campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in October 2013. The meeting capped off a busy year for the nascent organization’s formation team. Furthermore, it successfully advanced the association’s mission by providing over a dozen sessions and roundtables over two days along with numerous opportunities for the community of admissions and registrars colleagues to network with one another. A keynote address and the business meeting occurred on day two, at which time the term of several CAPACRAO formation team members ended and new members of the Executive Board began their term of service.

The Second Annual Meeting, was held on September 29-30, 2014 at Loyola University Maryland’s graduate campus in Timonium, MD. The amount of sessions were increased and our attendance grew from the first meeting.

National and Regional Associations

The national association is the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Founded in 1910, AACRAO now has over 11,000 members at more than 2,600 institutions in the United States and forty countries. Its mission is to serve and advance higher education by providing leadership in academic and enrollment services. AACRAO holds its annual meeting in the spring.

Our regional association is the Middle States Association of Collegiate Registrars and Officers of Admission. The oldest of the regional groups, MSACROA serves New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Founded in Maryland in 1922, MSACROA now has almost 1,600 members at 400 institutions. Its purpose is to perpetuate, encourage, and expand the professional education development of its membership, to promote the exchange of ideas on educational problems, to advance the areas of admission, financial planning, institutional research, records and registration, and student services. MSACROA holds its annual meeting the week after Thanksgiving.

Sister Associations

In addition to CAPACRAO, there are two other state associations within the MSACROA region: the New Jersey – New York Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (NJ-NY ACRAO) and the Delaware Valley Association of Collegiate Registrars and Officers of Admission (DVACROA).