Students who are paying their way through school with Trustee Scholarships or money from the University Award Program have a “thank you” to make before fall semester comes to a close.

The man who developed those scholarships will be leaving Kent State.

Charles Rickard, associate vice president for Enrollment Services, announced his retirement yesterday after 14 years of employment at the university.

“I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done here,” he said.

Since joining Kent State, Rickard’s resum‚ has gained many bullet points. As well as developing numerous recruitment and award programs, he served as a Fulbright scholar in 2002, a charter member of the National Council of Enrollment Policy and Planning and was president of the State Directors of Admission in Ohio.

The current development of the University Enrollment Plan is in place courtesy of Rickard, and he also co-developed the university’s diversity conference.

Rickard and his wife Jan will be moving to North Carolina to be closer to their sons. After finding an unexpected buyer for their house in Hudson, Rickard said they knew fate had interceded and the time had come to leave Ohio.

He said he can’t wait to be near his family, but it will be hard to say goodbye to the bonds he has formed here.

“I’ll miss my friends and colleagues the most,” he said. “I made a lot of friends throughout the eight campuses.”

In his 10 years in the position, he also established an enrollment management program that combined efforts between the Kent campus and all regional campuses. It led to Kent State experiencing eight consecutive years of enrollment growth from 1996 to 2004.

That progress is something he said he knows will continue even after he leaves.

As associate vice president for Enrollment Services, Rickard led enrollment management, which included the Office of Admissions, Adult Services, Career Services, the University Registrar and Student Financial Aid.

“There’s a very strong team in place to carry on the execution of the work we have initiated,” he said.

His staff is currently creating a scholarship program that will effectively use scholarship money to recruit high school students from other states and from the Columbus and Cincinnati areas.

Contact administration reporter Jackie Mantey at [email protected].