Dr. Susan Kern, vice president for University Advancement, announced in March that she will retire on July 15, 2005.

President Al Bowman has begun the search process for the next vice president of University Advancement, who will oversee the areas of Alumni Association, Development, Advancement & Administrative Services, University Events, Printing Services, and University Marketing & Communications, as well as serve as Executive Director of the Illinois State University Foundation. A 31-year Illinois State veteran, Kern began as an assistant professor in Home Economics. She has also served as assistant to the Dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology and was a long-term assistant to the President. She was appointed vice president for University Advancement in 1998 and recently led the University through its first comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Redefining “normal.”