Champlain College President Donald Laackman announced his resignation Wednesday after five years on the job.
Laurie Quinn, the college’s provost and senior vice president for academics, will serve as interim president starting in July as a search for a permanent replacement begins.
“Over the past several months, our community—faculty, staff, students, our leadership team, and the board of trustees—has engaged in conversations regarding the future of Champlain at a time of disruption in higher education,” Laackman wrote in a statement announcing his departure.
“While I am confident in my ability to continue to lead Champlain through these challenges, I have decided that the time is right for me to step aside,” he added. “I will be at Champlain through June 28 and will be assisting with transition matters through the end of the year.”
Quinn began working at Champlain College in 2014 and has overseen the college’s expansion online. She was previously provost at Granite State College and also worked in the nonprofit sector as program director at the New Hampshire Humanities Council. She received a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of New Hampshire.
Neal Lunderville, a college trustee and veteran of Burlington and state government, will lead the search committee to find a permanent replacement for Laackman, according to a press release from the college.
Leandre Waldo, a spokesperson for the college, told a reporter she would discuss Laackman’s departure Wednesday afternoon.
The change of leadership comes as Vermont’s small colleges struggle to survive amid rising competition among higher-education institutions nationwide and a dwindling population of college-age students in the Northeast region.
Scott Carpenter, chair of college’s board of trustees, who led the last presidential search, said in the press release that he looked forward to working with Quinn in her new capacity.
“Champlain has a long history of reinvention and we remain confident in Champlain’s ability to succeed into the future,” he said.
Laackman said in a statement he was proud of what he accomplished during five years at the college. The college said its endowment grew by 70% under his leaders, and that the size of the online student body tripled to 3,500.
“Of particular importance to me has been delivering on Champlain’s career-focused mission and connecting students’ professional focus with their meaning and purpose in life,” Laackman was quoted as saying.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Laurie Quinn’s work history.
