OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh will resign at the end of the 2024-25 school year, officials announced Wednesday.
Andrew Leavitt has served as the UW-Oshkosh chancellor for the past 10 years.
For more than a year, the university has faced declining enrollment and significant budget challenges, with an $18 million deficit in Aug. 2023 forcing furloughs and a workforce reduction impacting more than 210 people.
UW-Oshkosh created a new academic restructuring model and in June, the university announced it would close its two-year Fox Cities campus.
Back in April ,UW-Oshkosh faculty members expressed “no confidence” in Leavitt for his handing of the school’s financial crisis, in a symbolic vote of his leadership.
Click here to read statements from Universities of Wisconsin officials.
Leavitt’s full statement announcing his resignation is below.
Dear University community,
We are on a positive, innovative path as we advance plans to realize UWO 2.0. Thank you for your contributions toward that goal.
This University has worked diligently and made sacrifices for a brighter and more dynamic future. We are modernizing UW Oshkosh’s academic structure and facilities. Over the past few weeks, I have had the duty and privilege to update many of you and Shared Governance groups on our collective efforts to stabilize our institution’s enrollment and finances. We have solid plans in place.
And now is the time to set in motion another transformation—a change in this institution’s leadership.
Today, I am announcing my decision to step away from my role as Chancellor of UWO, effective June 30, 2025, and continue as a faculty member and professor of Chemistry. This decision stems from my unwavering commitment to do what is best for UWO. The institution is on the right track, and it won’t lose a step through the leadership transition next summer.
Since I was appointed in the fall of 2014, I have always believed that a 10-year term is sufficient. I recognize there is no fixed or magic number. However, in my view, serving longer deprives the university of fresh vision and inventiveness it deserves.
I take pride in my service. I have been driven to enhance the experience of students and, working with everyone at UWO, set the best course for the institution through the steady headwinds challenging higher education.
In my remaining time, we have more to accomplish. I ask for your help.
We must see through those plans I referenced earlier and stabilize UWO’s enrollment and finances. I am also committed to helping us earn state funding to modernize university facilities and infrastructure, including a revitalized library, as prioritized by the Board of Regents. These goals will be my focus over the next eight months. They are geared toward achieving one outcome: a strong, sustainable UWO.
I want to thank students for trusting UWO to provide a world-class educational experience. Every day, we deliver. I want to thank the faculty and staff for their outstanding and loyal service to this university. UWO has courage and tremendous potential as we reimagine how best to serve our students, the region and the state, today, tomorrow and far into the future.
I will cherish memories made and the people I have met in this role over the past ten years. It has been the honor of my life. I am proud to be a Titan and look forward to contributing in new and different ways.
On with our good work.
Chancellor Andy Leavitt
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