The University of Minnesota’s top administrator under President Eric Kaler is leaving her job at the end of this calendar year.
Executive Vice President and Provost Karen Hanson said in a letter to colleagues Tuesday that she’ll go on leave for the spring semester after seven years on the job, then begin a phased retirement from the faculty.
She said her decision “is reflective of personal and family considerations which have been weighing on me for over a year.”
Kaler himself announced last month that he will leave the presidency next summer.
“My planned departure is not related to the president’s decision to step down next June, but the coincidental timing of our transitions, while in some ways awkward, will provide an opportunity to ensure continuity of academic leadership,” Hanson wrote.
The Board of Regents will meet Thursday to act on an amended employment agreement for Kaler and to discuss the search for his successor.