Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Virginia Helm (pictured left) has announced she will retire from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in July, having served as head of Academic Affairs and in a one-year term as interim chancellor since coming to the university in 2002.

Helm made the announcement Wednesday during her State of Academic Affairs address, during which she highlighted the university�s academic accomplishments over the past four and half years as well as its current projects and vision for the future.

With her husband, Tom, retired, Helm felt the time was right for her own retirement. "This is something I have looked forward to for a long time," she said, "even while enjoying a long and active career in higher education."

"UWSP is a very special institution filled with faculty and staff who are capable, caring and dedicated to our wonderful students and to the institution," she said. "I feel privileged to have spent five years in this university and town."

Chancellor Linda Bunnell said she "will miss Helm both professionally and personally," adding, "Virginia has a good sense of the culture here and is extremely positive about the campus. She kept UWSP moving forward while she served as interim chancellor, and gave me great support as chancellor."

"She has given the campus extraordinary service," said Bunnell, "and she will continue to be fully engaged as our provost until the day she retires."

The search process for Helm�s replacement will begin immediately.

As interim chancellor during the 2003-04 year after the departure of Chancellor Thomas George, Helm served as the first female leader of the campus in its 109-year history. During her tenure as vice chancellor, faculty development opportunities increased through the newly created Center for Academic Excellence and Student Engagement as well as through technology training. Helm also initiated the University Evening program in which faculty noted for significant scholarship and teaching were chosen to present a lecture or performance for the campus and community.

Under her leadership, online courses and participation in Winterim session have doubled, new programs in Web and Digital Media Development and health sciences were created and a partnership was formed with UW-Madison to provide a doctoral program in audiology. Her work will continue during the current semester, as she is spearheading the university�s reaccreditation activity as well as the strategic planning initiative beginning this month.

Before coming to UWSP, Helm was executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Ind. Her accomplishments there include the establishment of a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, an Office of Sponsored Programs, the development of a Center for Advising and Career Services, direction of student retention initiatives and leading a support group for displaced workers.

For 25 years prior, Helm taught and administered at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., where she rose in the ranks from graduate assistant to professor of educational administration. She then served as assistant dean for the College of Education and as assistant provost and assistant academic vice president. While at WIU she received the Affirmative Action Director�s Award and the Faculty Excellence Award. Helm was a high school English teacher in Oak Park, Ill., for five years before working in higher education.

Helm holds a bachelor�s degree in English from Boston University, a master�s degree in English from Boston College, an Ed.S. in educational administration from Western Illinois University and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Iowa.

She has authored and co-authored books, chapters and journal articles dealing with a wide range of education law issues including personnel evaluation, copyright issues in education and educational rights of homeless children. Her recent presentations have focused on education assessment and summer school issues.

In the community Helm is an active member of the local Rotary Club and has served on the boards of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Community Foundation of Portage County. She also is President Elect of the North Central Conference on Summer Sessions. She also is a member of the American Association of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Rotary International.

Helm�s husband Tom is the retired director of the Illinois Centennial Honors College and a professor of religious studies at Western Illinois University. They have one son, Jonathan, who currently lives and works with his wife in Japan, teaching English as a second language. In the fall he will begin a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan.

Helm plans to retire to Chicago, where she and Tom have a residence. "Just being there provides opportunities to do the things we so enjoy," she said, "such as concerts, plays, walks by Lake Michigan and in Lincoln Park, browsing in bookstores, reading, working out to keep the flab at bay� nothing very demanding."

"Eventually I look forward to becoming involved in some kind of outreach through a church or agency," she added. "Chicago offers lots of opportunities along that line too."

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