Vice President for Finance and Administration, Dr. Charles Curry, announced last Monday that he would be resigning from Slippery Rock University on May 6 after over 27 years of service.
President Cheryl J. Norton stated she is going to be forming a search committee to look for a new Vice President.
“We’re going to start as soon as we can get it going,” Norton said. “Because that announcement just came out [last] Monday, it’s going to take us a little time to find out what search firms we might have access to because of contracts with the PASSHE system.”
Until that position is taken, the current assistant Vice President for Finance, Molly Mercer, will serve as interim president for that position.
According to Norton, there are three other schools in the PASSHE system have recently gone through the process of hiring a new Vice President of Financial Affairs, so she has been in contact with those universities in order to gain insight to how they selected their candidates.
“We had been discussing what he was interested in doing in the institution,” Norton explained. “So, I was not taken by surprise when he announced his resignation.”
Curry stated that he does not know exactly how long he has been planning on leaving.
“I think he’s at a very enviable point in his life where he can make those decisions,” Norton said. “I think that all of us come to a position where you say, ‘Is there something interesting for me to do that I haven’t tried before?’ or ‘Do I want to move in a whole another direction?’”
Curry explained that he used to teach accounting and finance, and that if the opportunity arose, he wouldn’t mind teaching those subjects again. He also explained that he wouldn’t mind working as a Vice President for Finance and Administration for another university because he liked his job at SRU.
“I like the variety,” Curry said. “There’s always something new and challenging about it. Maneuvering through the bureaucracy of policies and procedures was always a challenge.”
Norton sated that she respects Curry’s decision to resign.
“I have appreciated and enjoyed working with Dr. Curry and wish him the best in any future endeavor that he chooses to be involved in,” Norton said.
“I’ve been truly blessed to work here at the university for over 27 years, and over 25 as Vice President,” explained Curry. “Both of my children have graduated here, and I donated resources to the university. This has been my life.”
