University to begin search process for new Vice President of Student Affairs
After almost six years serving as head of student affairs, Kathy Collins has left URI’s community. PHOTO CREDIT: uri.edu
After serving nearly six years as the Vice President of Student Affairs, Kathy Collins is leaving the University of Rhode Island to pursue a job consulting colleges and universities on workforce developments and helping colleges stay open.
President Marc Parlange announced the departure in an email sent to the URI community. In the email, he praised Collins for her work in the leadership team as well as being an advocate for students.
“I’m gonna miss you, you have been what has kept me going,” Collins said about the students at URI. “[URI] is a special place and that’s because of you.”
Collins was a first-generation college student who earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and business from Juniata College. After graduation, she also earned a master’s degree in counseling and college student personnel from Shippensburg University and a doctorate in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University.
When addressing the Student Senate in a farewell speech on Feb. 16, Collins said that her position had worn her out, especially in the past two years during the COVID-19.
“The last two years have been incredibly hard on all of us and I have not been separated from that,” she said.
According to Collins, the hardest part of her job was calling the parents of students that passed away and attending funerals, which took a toll on her over time.
“For me, [it is] time to step away from [URI] and to step away from the grind to work at a company that will allow me to work at multiple institutions,” Collins said. “The new job I’m taking on I get to help them change for the future and that’s what I’m really excited about.”
She said that she is looking forward to being able to spend more time with her family and that one benefit of her new job is that she doesn’t have to move her family again.
Dave Lavallee, director of external relations and communications, praised Collins for the impact she made during her time at the University.
“I learned a great deal from her, she was one of the folks who made URI look really good in the media and the public because she was accessible, truthful and really enhanced the credibility of what we do here,” he said.
The departure of Collins occurred rather fast according to Lavallee, so URI is just beginning a national search process for a new vice president of Student Affairs. The position has not been publicly posted for applicants yet, according to Lavallee. The Vice President of Student Affairs might entail different things than it has in the past.
In the meantime, Ellen Reynolds, assistant vice president of Student Health and the director of Health Services, was appointed as the interim vice president. Reynolds is a URI alumnus and has worked at the University since 2003.
“We have enormous shoes to fill,” she said. “Dr. Collins was an outstanding leader of the division of Student Affairs and a representative of the University. [My] number one goal is to listen to students, to be there for students and to advocate for them.”
Reynolds said that she is excited to continue Collins’s legacy and to support students.