Southeast Missouri State University student publication

President Dobbins announces plans to retire in June

Monday, September 8, 2014 ~ Updated 8:52 PM
An emotional Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins waves to the crowd after he announced his retirement during the State of the University address on Monday in Academic Hall. (Photo by Sean Burke)

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins announced his retirement at his State of the University Address on Monday afternoon in the Academic Hall auditorium.

"As many of you suspect, this is my final State of the University Address at Southeast," Dobbins said toward the end of his speech. "Jeanine and I have made the decision for me to retire from the presidency effective June 30, 2015. It has been such a great honor to represent this university and to work with not only an outstanding Board of Regents for 24 years, but also with such hardworking, dedicated and caring people here at our university and in the 26-county service region communities in Missouri."

Dobbins, who has been the president of Southeast since 1999, thanked everyone for their "dedication and commitment" to both the university and to he and his wife. Prior to being president, Dobbins served as vice president of finance and administration at Southeast from 1991 to 1993, and was executive vice president from 1993 until he became president.

He then talked about his plans after retirement with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

"Recently AASCU has joined in a partnership with Penson and Associates to form AASCU-Penson Center for Professional Development, a consulting firm that assists presidents, governing boards, institutions and systems to plan and focus their resources successfully in these challenging times," Dobbins said. "While I will spend the next 10 months just as I have the past 15 years, working with you on the priorities and goals of our university, I do plan to work with AASCU-Penson Center upon my retirement to do consulting in higher education."

Dobbins was emotional while informing the audience, which was made up mostly of faculty and staff members from the university. The audience immediately gave Dobbins a standing ovation after his address.

Doyle Privett, the president of the Board of Regents, continued the event by stating that he and Dobbins had discussed Dobbins' retirement for some time. Privett described how the university had grown in Dobbins' care from a period of record-low enrollment when Dobbins began to record-high enrollment now.

Privett then continued by stating that a search committee to find the university's 18th president will be formed. It will include three members of the Board of Regents, a faculty member from each of the colleges, a member of the administrative and professional staff, a member of the clerical/technical staff, a member of the University Foundation and two students, as well as three representatives from various groups including regional campuses, service regions and alumni.

The committee will receive input from the university community from a "series of meetings, open forums and questionnaires," Privett said.

The State of the University Address is an annual event during which the university president delivers a speech about the achievements of the past year and presents the goals and plans for the future. Dobbins delivered his 16th and final speech on his 65th birthday on Monday.

"We are now a member of the 21st century," Dobbins said of the university. "We are now nationally recognized for outstanding and accredited academic programs. We are now an economic development leader that creates jobs and fosters entrepreneurial growth throughout the Midwest and the Delta region. We are now a community partner that works to improve lives, our region and the world. And we are now 67,000 alumni strong, making a difference locally and globally. Ladies and gentlemen, we are Southeast Missouri State University, and I have never been prouder of our institution."

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