Two Hesston College administrators, Vice President of Student Life Lamar Roth and Vice President of Academics Dr. Sandra Zerger, have announced they will end their service to Hesston College this spring.

Both Roth and Zerger have had a significant impact on the college and have many accomplishments in their years of service. Together, they have collaborated to promote more interaction between the academic and student life areas, resulting in higher retention and student satisfaction as well as increased learning opportunities. Plans are in place for transitions for both positions.

Roth has served as vice president of Student Life and dean of students since 2003. His last day will be April 30. Under Roth’s leadership, the college has improved student retention and student satisfaction as indicated in the Student Satisfaction Instrument survey, which the college began using in recent years to measure student satisfaction and priorities. He also collaborated with the City of Hesston to provide training and management processes for the college.

“Lamar has built and led a strong team of student life professionals to adapt and meet the complex needs of students,” said President Howard Keim. “Our student satisfaction scores are significantly higher than our comparison group due to Lamar’s leadership and the fine work of the entire staff.”

Zerger joined the Hesston College administration in 2007 as vice president of academics and academic dean. Her last day will be June 30. With Zerger’s extensive background in academic leadership, Zerger has helped lead the college in improving course standards, academic challenge and faculty instruction as seen in Hesston’s outstanding results from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and Individual Development and Education Assessment (IDEA) survey. Under her leadership, Hesston College was ranked the number 2 two-year college in the country by Washington Monthly magazine in 2010, based on 2009 CCSSE data and showed markedly improved scores on the survey in 2012. During her tenure, the college has made improvements to the general education curriculum, focused on course transferability and signed several important articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities.

“With Dr. Zerger’s leadership, we have become the best two-year college in the area of student engagement, improved our pedagogy, earned the highest possible level of reaccreditation with the Higher Learning Commission and revised the general education curriculum,” said Keim. “Sandee has worked carefully and tirelessly to promote the best interests of students and student learning. I am grateful for her service to Hesston College.”

One-year interim roles have been assigned to the vacating positions, allowing the college to have seamless transitions and keep effective initiatives in place while looking at long-term options.

Joel Kauffman will act as interim vice president of Student Life effective May 1. Kauffman has served at Hesston College for 27 years as former women’s basketball and softball coach, instructor and vice president of Admissions from 2007 to 2011. He began as athletic director in 2011, and will continue in that role during the interim period. Kauffman is a graduate of Hesston College and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Fresno (Calif.) Pacific University and a master’s of education degree from Wichita (Kan.) State University.

Rob Ramseyer will step in as interim dean of students effective May 1. Ramseyer has served as head baseball coach at Hesston College since 2011 and will continue in that role during the interim period. He also served in student life as co-director of campus activities from 2011 to 2012. Ramseyer earned a bachelor’s degree in history from MidAmerica Nazarene University (Olathe, Kan.) and a master’s degree in sports studies from the University of Kansas (Lawrence).

Dr. Brent Yoder, registrar, will act as interim vice president of Academics and academic dean effective July 1. Yoder has served as registrar since 2011. He is a graduate of Hesston College and earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Va.) and a future professoriate graduate certificate and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Blacksburg).