Monday and Tuesday this week are my last days at Huntington University.  I have enjoyed my time at HU and believe that I have helped establish EXCEL on a track which will see it move forward in a positive direction.  There are always concerns when you make this kind of transition about whether or not what you have done actually has made a difference and I have included some comments below from adjunct faculty who have responded after hearing of my resignation:

• Wow! This is surprising! I have enjoyed getting to know you and to work with you over the past few years at Huntington.  You are brought EXCEL to a high level with your emphasis on student learning objectives and I know you will be missed.  I have found the interactions at Huntington and the training sessions for adjunct faculty to be very effective and worthwhile.
• I want to thank you for the opportunities that you have provided me during the last 2½ years.  I, too, believe that God sometimes leads us in His direction and we need to follow in faith.  Your enthusiasm for the EXCEL Program has been an inspiration to me as I continue to seek what God wants me to do with my background and experiences.
• I want you to know how much I appreciate your leadership, and also how much I appreciate and admire you as the person you are.  It has been a real pleasure for me to be a part of the EXCEL program and that is because of what you have done to make it what it is today.  Best wishes to you and your wife as you make this move, God bless and take care.
• I've appreciated your leadership and passionate Christian witness in conducting your professional responsibilities.  You came to me with an offer to instruct for EXCEL @ a critical time in my professional life.  Thank you for giving me the opppportunity to 'excel' in my teaching.
• This will be a huge loss to HU, but I trust that God will provide.  I have really enjoyed working with you.  It has been a joy to see how you have transformed the EXCEL program.  I love how you have pushed us.
• You are one of the brightest spots of growth for HU, and your work in growing EXCEL was amazing. I don’t know what prompted your desire to leave, but you will be very much missed here.
• I just heard of your resignation today.  You will be missed by Huntington.  Your inspiration and leadership during your tenure has dramatically changed the EXCEL program Rick. I believe that  you took the entire program to a higher, more professional level.  I have always found it to be a true pleasure working with you. You always seemed to have a professional approach to ensuring quality of the EXCEL Program.
• Rick:  I cannot tell you how much a loss you will be to our community and Life Long Learning.  You are a real champion in your efforts to help all adults.  I feel blessed to have worked with you and knowing you as a friend in Christ. 
• I just wanted you to know what a true pleasure it has been meeting you, working with you, learning from you.  I felt we had a meeting of the minds, so to speak, in that you took anything I had to say to heart, mulled it over, and respected the various opinions or suggestions that I had.  You can't begin to know what that meant to me.

 These comments have been encouraging to me as I make the transition from overseeing one program at a small university to   working with institutional effectiveness at a large university.  Still, it is the same kind of work that I have been doing and with God's help I hope I will be able to be as effective in my new role as I hope the records will show I was at HU.