More disruption at St. Cloud State: Interim president leaving early

ST. CLOUD – Interim St. Cloud State University President Larry Dietz will leave his post earlier than anticipated, but officials hope a new permanent president for the central Minnesota institution will be in place when he departs.

Dietz, who came out of retirement last July to begin a two-year term as interim president, will leave the position by Dec. 31 to “attend to family health challenges,” he said in a letter to the campus on Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson announced the organization will immediately begin a national search for a new president with the goal of having a new leader in place by January.

The Florida-based higher education search firm Greenwood Asher & Associates will help Minnesota State with the search process, a timeline for which will be shared with the campus community in the next few weeks.

Olson said he plans to meet with the campus bargaining units and student government leaders, as well as students, faculty, staff and community members to get “insight on the leadership qualities that you would like to see in the next president.”

Dietz stepped into the role of interim president last summer, taking over for former President Robbyn Wacker, who served for six years and then left her post in May 2024 ahead of the announcement on drastic cuts.

Dietz retired in 2021 as president of Illinois State University. When he started at SCSU, he took a pragmatic approach to continue right-sizing curriculum, faculty and facilities amid enrollment declines.

“We have made many strides in a short period of time, but we have more work to do over the next six months to address the challenges we face,” Dietz said in a statement provided by SCSU. “I am confident that we will meet those challenges, and SCSU will continue to focus on the future.”

Last year, university leaders announced cuts to about 90 programs and 50 faculty to help put the university back on solid financial footing after years of unchecked spending. Shortly after starting in his role, Dietz said he was confident SCSU was on the right path forward.

“I think the future is very bright here,” he said at the time. “It’s a really refreshing kind of thing to say we can be a reshaped organization and live within our means.”

Olson praised Dietz for helping SCSU identify and make difficult decisions, “always, always with the goal of strengthening SCSU for the future. He has and will continue to lead with compassion, wisdom, and humor over the next several months as we identify a permanent leader for the university.”