After losing its director in December, Ohio University’s Office of University Advancement will lose three assistant vice presidents and the assistant to the vice president at the end of this year.
Assistant Vice President for Advancement Administration Margaret Sheskey, Assistant Vice President for Advancement Services Juan Cueto and Assistant Vice President for Development Larry Lafferty are all leaving OU within the next three months. Michelle Pence, assistant to the vice president, is also leaving.
Howard Lipman, OU’s former vice president for University Advancement and CEO of the Ohio University Foundation, left in December for a similar position at Florida International University.
“People are coming and going from the university all the time,” said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
Sheskey is taking an early retirement June 30, and Pence, who will also leave June 30, is moving from the Athens area because her husband was offered a new job, Watts said. Cueto has accepted a position at FIU and will leave May 20.
Watts said she did not know about Lafferty’s plan after he leaves on July 29.
The four employees could not be reached for comment.
“Each of these individuals, for a variety of reasons, is taking their next step someplace other than Ohio University,” Watts said. “We are grateful for all of their hard work and what they have done for students.”
Graham Stewart, assistant vice president for Alumni Relations, will be the remaining assistant vice president for advancement.
McDavis is currently deciding “how to meet the needs of each of these changes,” Watts said, adding the president will name interim assistant vice presidents soon.
Since Lipman’s departure, McDavis has served as interim vice president during the search for a replacement. The university has narrowed down the search to two finalists: Bryan Benchoff, president and CEO of the University of South Dakota Foundation and Lori Lewis, vice president for Advancement at Marietta College. McDavis should announce the new vice president within the next couple weeks, Watts said.These departures will not affect the university’s capital campaign, Watts said.
The fundraising campaign has been going on for about four years and its goal is to raise $450 million by June 30, 2015. The university had raised $233.4 million as of last month, according to reports at the April Board of Trustees meeting.
With the $105 million gift the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations awarded to OU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, the total amount raised for the capital campaign is now $338.4.
Despite the further loss of employees from University Advancement, there will continue to be people in the office making sure the capital campaign is going well, Watts said.
The advancement resignations follow the announcements in the past month that four OU deans will resign. Ben Ogles, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Greg Shepherd, dean of the Scripps College of Communication; Rathindra Bose, dean of the Graduate College; and Dan Evans, executive dean of regional higher education, will all leave OU at the end of this academic year.
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