Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles announced this morning that she will be retiring after serving the IU Southeast community for 11 years.

Patterson-Randles said she has decided to step down due to family health issues. Originally set to retire in the spring of 2012 due to the IU Southeast retirement age policy for senior administrators, Patterson-Randles requested an extension of one more year. She was granted the extension and would have retired in the spring of 2014 had she not stepped down.

The chancellor notified students and staff of her retirement through a university-wide email.

During her time spent in office Patterson-Randles implemented many new things around IU Southeast. What she believes left the greatest impact was the creation of housing for students directly on campus.

“It took almost 18 years of attempts in order to create student housing and I’m very proud to have helped accomplish that,” Patterson-Randles said. “It’s such a big thing for the students.”

Jenny Johnson Wolf, special assistant to the chancellor, said that it was one of the biggest changes that IUS has ever seen.

“When you hear about the chancellor one thing she will be most remembered for is creating housing,” Johnson Wolf said. “It happened at the right time under the right leadership.”

During her time as chancellor IU Southeast was named one of the top ten places to work, Patterson-Randles said.

Also, during a reaccreditation review done by the Higher Learning Commission, IU Southeast was found to be one of the best-run campuses, after receiving just an average review ten years prior.

“Our review was almost sterling,” Patterson-Randles said. “We really knocked that review out of the park, and the committee really praised us for our strategic planning, which is what really sets us apart as a campus.”

Patterson-Randles has been involved with education for 43 years teaching in many areas from Boston to Pennsylvania, but something continues to bring her back to the southern Indiana area.

“I’ve been all over the United States, and I just really love this region,” Patterson-Randles said.

Once retired from IUS, Patterson-Randles hopes to return to IU Southeast as a teacher.

“I love teaching. The reason I got into education was teaching, not because of administration,” Patterson-Randles said. “I am glad to have this opportunity. It has been a real pleasure to serve here.”

With the retirement of Patterson-Randles, many new transitions will take place.

Currently the chancellors board has two serving interim vice chancellors, Curt Peters for academic affairs and Anne Skuce for student affairs, meaning they will serve part-time until a replacement is found.

Patterson-Randles was the first female chancellor at IU Southeast in 2002 and will officially end her term on June 30. After that, an IU representative will serve as interim chancellor while IU Southeast looks to fill her position, as well as the other positions.

By GAIL FAUSTYN

News Editor

gfaustyn@ius.edu