Provost Clayton Koppes announced last Friday in a statement to the Oberlin community that he will be stepping down from his position on June 30, 2005. He plans to return as a professor for the 2006-07 academic year.

Koppes attributed his reasons for resigning as Provost to a desire to spend more time with his partner, sociology professor Bill Norris, who has taken a medical leave.

“I think he’s been a superb administrator and a great dean,” said College President Nancy Dye. “I’m very sorry that we won’t be working together anymore.”

Soft-spoken but often controversial, Koppes came to the history department at Oberlin in 1978. He served as the dean of the college of arts and sciences for eight years prior to being appointed the director of student affairs in 2001. He became Provost when Dye felt she needed more administrative support in order to focus more time on off-campus fundraising activities and day-to-day business. When Koppes leaves in June, he will have been provost for only one year.

“I had anticipated serving in this position longer,” he said.

Koppes described his tenure as being “pretty much what [he] had expected. However, since the College’s budgetary situation was worse than anticipated, we have needed to make some reductions and cuts,” he added.

Among the more controversial of these cuts were last semester’s decision to suspend the Oberlin-in-London program and the recent move to reduce the College student population and faculty. Koppes has, in these past months, faced student outrage and disapproval over the policies he has been instrumental in enacting, though he maintained that “these decisions were the right decisions, though in retrospect, more consultation would have been the better approach.”

Koppes also noted that, as provost, he has missed having the chance to interact with students and faculty.

“I feel one step removed from that part of the Oberlin community,” he said.

After his leave of absence, Koppes will return to the history department, but at the moment does not plan to assume another administrative position.

“I’ve wanted to be more directly involved in teaching over the years,” Koppes explained. “Right now, I don’t even know what other administrative roles I might take on and there are no vacancies at this point. Teaching allows for more flexibility in my schedule, which gives me more time to spend with my partner.”

Koppes described returning to teaching as both “exciting and scary.”

“I will need to spend a lot of time reading history and catching up on the things I’ve missed over nine years. I need to become better acquainted with students.”

According to Dye, the College will not begin searching for a new provost in the immediate future.

“I do not intend to appoint another provost at this time, since we are currently undergoing a search for a new dean of the college of arts and sciences,” she wrote in a Feb. 14 letter.

When asked if the position eventually would be filled, Dye responded, “There are issues that I need to think through. I need to consult with a number of faculty. I’m in deliberation mode.”