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Indiana State University President Deborah Curtis announced Wednesday afternoon she will retire at the end of the current academic year in 2024, a move that comes as the university faces declining enrollment and budget cuts.
In a news release, Curtis called serving as president a “tremendous privilege and honor.”
Curtis is the university’s 12th president—the first woman and the second ISU alumnus to serve in the position.
“From my time as a Sycamore Ph.D. candidate, I have experienced firsthand our university’s focus on positively impacting students. This utmost priority continues today, and I am confident it will continue in the future,” Curtis said in a news release. “The next leader of ISU will be joining at a time when so many opportunities are on the horizon that will catapult ISU to an even higher level. A strong and solid foundation is in place for the university’s future.”
In the release, the university credited Curtis for growing the endowment and pursuing philanthropic goals, including the $100 million by 2025 Be So Bold campaign. Multiple campus projects were also launched during her tenure including the $34 million Dreiser Hall renovation and the $66 million Technology Annex building revamp. The latter is the largest state-funded capital project in the university’s history.
The university also applauds Curtis for leading the Sycamores through the pandemic and securing state and federal funding to improve child care accessibility.
The university emailed media outlets Wednesday morning regarding an impromptu press conference held later in the day to “discuss the future of Indiana State University.” Curtis’s retirement was announced at the event.
Curtis took on the role in January 2018 after being the provost and chief learning officer at the University of Central Missouri since 2012. She also previously held teaching and administrative roles at Illinois State University, where she spent 26 years. She worked in public education for 40 years as a teacher, coach, athletic director, principal and school district superintendent.
“For the past six years, President Curtis has led ISU in a way that is emblematic of her deep loyalty and pride in her alma mater, working with her cabinet, faculty and staff to take ISU to new heights in delivering high-quality education to students in all of its disciplines,” said Robert Casey, board of trustees chair, in the release. “Her advocacy for ISU in the Statehouse, the broader Wabash Valley community and the alumni community has been energetic and passionate, creating renewed enthusiasm for the ISU brand among all of these key stakeholders.”
IBJ honored Curtis as a Women of Influence last year, and IBJ Media included her in the 2023 Indiana 250 list of the state’s most influential business leaders.
She graduated from Indiana State with her doctorate in curriculum and instruction with specializations in secondary education and supervision of instruction. She earned a master’s in music education from Illinois State University and a bachelor’s in music education from MacMurray College.
Curtis is retiring as the university works through financial complications due in part to declining student enrollment.
This year, ISU saw an enrollment decrease of 4.1% despite a larger freshman class for a second year, according to Tribune-Star reporting. The student population shrank from 8,658 to 8,305.
The university made about $12 million in budget cuts last year, and Curtis previously said the budget was based on an enrollment estimate of about 100 student less than actually enrolled.
The budget cuts spurred a reorganization that cut about 10 faculty and staff positions, which at one time was closer to 50. The university received notice of about 42 retirements by the end of the year, which reduced layoffs.
The Tribune-Star also reported in June that the university’s student tuition revenue was expected to take a $9.3 million hit, from about $75.7 million in 2022-23 to a projected $66.3 million in 2023-24.
In turn, the revenue drop led the ISU board to approve a 2.75% tuition increase for each of the next two years. Tuition increased $130 a semester, to a total of $9,992 a year. The following year, students will pay $10,258 a year to be a Sycamore.
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