Ursuline College president announces plan to retire
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Sep. 17—Ursuline College President Sister Christine De Vinne announced at a Board of Trustees meeting that this will be her final year at the Pepper Pike college's helm.
"It's been an honor to serve Ursuline College — my beloved alma mater — as president," De Vinne, better known on campus as Sister Chris, now in her ninth year, stated in a news release. "I will celebrate my 50th college reunion here with the Class of 1973 next month. The timing is right for me to relinquish my keys to a new president, ready to lead our incredible faculty and staff and build on the momentum of their accomplishments.
"Our undergraduate enrollment has rebounded to pre-pandemic growth levels," the 73-year-old member of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland continued. "We've created new in-demand graduate degrees to meet the area's workforce needs, including a physician assistant program, a nurse anesthetist program in our Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, and a
re-imagined MBA for online learners.
"Our graduates go on to serve Northeast Ohio as the region's most dedicated nurses, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, and scientists."
De Vinne was appointed president in 2015, after 14 years as faculty member, then dean, at Ursuline and five years as vice president for Academic Affairs at Notre Dame of
Maryland University.
During her tenure, the college increased undergraduate student retention, launched a Student Success Center, renovated the Dauby Science Center, and opened the Besse Library Learning Commons. It was named the No. 1 college in the nation for student upward social mobility in a study by the American Enterprise Institute.
The National League of Nursing named Ursuline College a Center of Excellence for Nursing education.
"Sister Christine has driven the college forward under two strategic plans, undeterred even
by a global pandemic," Board Chair John "Jack" M. Newman, Jr. stated in the release. "Under her leadership, the college has carried out its mission in new and transformative ways. She has left an indelible mark on this campus."
As the college seeks to identify a new president, a search committee will be led by Board Vice Chair Teri Corletzi.
De Vinne will retire, effective June 30, 2024, and after a break, she plans to finding fresh ways to continue her ministry as an Ursuline Sister, the release stated.
