This story was originally produced by the Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Keene State College will have its own president going forward, officials said recently as part of an announcement about a national search.
The search is expected to last roughly one year and “signals the [University System of New Hampshire] Board’s commitment to a dedicated presidential leadership at Keene State,” according to a June 29 news release posted on the college’s website.
“... Keene State College will remain an independent institution with its own mission, identity, accreditation, and president,” the release said. “Interim President Don Birx has affirmed his full commitment to the College throughout the search process and beyond.”
The University System of New Hampshire’s board of trustees expressed its support for the search at its most recent meeting in late June.
The announcement comes as Birx, president of Plymouth State University, leads Keene State in an interim capacity while simultaneously tending to his leadership duties at its sister school. It also comes amid financial struggles for the public university system and a proposed shift to its top-level leadership structure.
After eight years leading Keene State, Melinda Treadwell stepped down from the presidency in October after accepting the top job at SUNY Geneseo in New York.
In an interview that month with The Sentinel, she said Birx’s dual presidency was something of a test run for the university system, which is seeking to limit the number of its chief executives amid increasing financial pressure.
Last summer, the N.H. Legislature reduced the university system’s two-year budget by $18 million, which equated to a 3 percent reduction in Keene State’s operating budget.
In addition to Keene State and Plymouth State, the university system includes the University of New Hampshire in Durham.
At the June meeting, the university system’s board of trustees recommended changes to a law that would combine the positions of USNH chancellor and University of New Hampshire president to cut costs, The Sentinel previously reported.
That move, if approved by the N.H. Legislature, would go into effect July 1, 2027, according to the June 29 news release.
Keene State, meanwhile, is facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit that has forced it to make staffing cuts and redesign its academic structure.
In March, Birx told The Sentinel that the initial plan was for him to continue as Keene State’s interim president through June 30, but USNH trustees decided earlier this year to extend that period through June 30, 2027.
Sarah Kossayda, spokesperson for Keene State, said in an email to The Sentinel Wednesday that, once the college had more information about the search committee, it would share it.
“The important thing is that Keene State College will remain an independent institution with its own mission, identity, accreditation, and president,” she said. “Until a new president is in place, President Birx will remain as KSC’s interim president through the process and through his current contract which runs through June, 2027.”
Noah Diedrich can be reached at 603-355-8569, or ndiedrich@keenesentinel.com.
