President Jacque Carter has recently announced his upcoming resignation as President of Doane University. He will not be stepping down until June 30, 2021, in an effort to help prioritization get underway before his departure.
Jacque Carter will resign his position as president of Doane at the end of the academic year.
An email from the President’s Office informed the Doane community that Carter has decided to quit his position as President of the university.
“I write today to share with you the news that I have decided to complete my time as President of Doane University at the end of the 20202021 academic year. My final day will be June 30, 2021,” the email said.
Carter announced to the Board of Trustees that he intended to step down on Nov. 9, during the voting process on prioritization.
According to a press release from the university, Carter believes it is “a good time to hand over the wheel to a new President.”
After months of working on prioritization, Carter will leave before most of his recommendations are put into action.
“A decision like this is never made lightly,” Carter said. “Many considerations, both personal and professional, went into this decision for me.
”A committee has been chosen to help select the new university President. “The Board of Trustees will be convening a search committee for Doane’s next President. Paul Schelstraete will chair this committee. Once the committee is formed, more information about the search will be shared with the Doane Community,” the email said. “I want to ensure and commit to a smooth transition for the community and the next leader of Doane University.”
During an interview, Carter said he has been thinking about leaving Doane for a while.
“I’ve been thinking about my life for quite a while — my work, my family and what we want to do going forward. Ten years is a good amount of time for any president to be at any particular college or university,” Carter said.
Carter chose to postpone his resignation until he felt the university was in good standing during the pandemic and budget cuts.
“I wanted to make sure we could get through that pandemic moment that we were in and that we would be able to complete the budget saving process that we started back in February,” Carter said. “I thought if I was to make any decision to leave earlier, I would leave in the middle of a situation that Doane needed me there for, so I set it aside.
”Additionally, he has children and a grandchild he hopes to spend more time with. “We’re kind of ready now to reconnect as a family, to start that part of our life back up again,” Carter said.
After over ten years as the President of Doane University, Carter said he believes it is time to give someone else the opportunity.
“The typical presidency is ten years. [In the first five years] When you come as a new person to a school, you usually put some big plan into place and have big ideas and big goals. Then you execute those in the second five years,” Carter said. “Then you come to a point where you should reassess and reevaluate what to do next. This is the time for me to pass the baton.”
Carter said he has enjoyed his time at Doane. “I’m very happy with my time at Doane, the people I have met, the students and faculty. I know there have been a lot of moments when it hasn’t been so much fun, but overall, I feel really good about having come here and having had this opportunity. Overall, I hope that I am leaving Doane in a good position as it goes forward so that it will prosper,” Carter said.
The next University President will be chosen in the future by a search committee.
