St. Cloud State’s president Wacker stepping down early amid expected budget cuts
St. Cloud State University President Robbyn Wacker is stepping down earlier than scheduled ahead of anticipated budget cuts.
Wacker announced last fall that she planned to leave at the end of the academic year. Her contract ends on June 30.
In a letter sent Wednesday to faculty and staff, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Chancellor Scott Olson said St. Cloud State is “facing financial pressures that will need to be addressed in the coming weeks.”
“I know these decisions can be challenging to a campus community and its morale,” he wrote. Olson said Wacker told him that decisions about the university’s long-term operations should be made by leaders who will be there to manage the transition.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Olson appointed Larry Lee, SCSU’s vice president for finance and administration, as acting president effective May 5 to usher the campus through the next two months.
Last month, Minnesota State’s board of trustees named Larry Dietz to serve as interim president starting July 1. Dietz served as president of Illinois State University from 2014 until retiring in 2021. He also held leadership roles at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Iowa State University.
Olson thanked Wacker for her “selfless devotion” to SCSU, calling her “a strategic thinker, a visionary leader, and an organizational innovator.”
St. Cloud State has about 10,000 students. The university has struggled with student enrollment declines that have already led to budget cuts and faculty layoffs. A partnership with a for-profit company to manage online courses also has been a source of contention among some faculty.