David Andrews has resigned as president of La Jolla-based National University, one of the nation's largest private non-profit schools with more than two dozen campuses.
Andrews's sudden departure, announced Tuesday with "bittersweet sentiment," came in a 450-word letter to faculty and staff.
No explanation was given in the email from Michael R. Cunningham, rector of the National University System.
"Effective immediately, I will return to the presidency of the National University," Cunningham wrote. He will retain his role as chancellor.
He greeted Andrews, 65, who came to San Diego after six years as dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education in Baltimore.
“During his five years at the university, Dr. Andrews has been instrumental in leading many new initiatives to improve the lives of our students and the reputation of the institution,” said Cunningham.
"While we will miss Dr. Andrews, as well as his vision and passion for innovative approaches to education, we wish him the best in his future endeavors."
According to 2018 tax records, Andrews earned $ 581,000 in wages and other compensation. The school reported an endowment of $ 36.6 million and net assets of $ 822 million that year.
Prior to Johns Hopkins, Andrews was associate professor and state outreach specialist in the Department of Family Relations and Human Development at Ohio State University.
Previously, he was promoted to head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Oregon State University.
He holds a doctorate in child development from Florida State University after earning an associate's degree from Pensacola Junior College in 1976, a BA in psychology from Auburn University in 1977, and an MA in child development from Kansas State University in 1980.
His Wikipedia profile says Andrews has written research articles, book chapters, and abstracts on topics including addictive behaviors, the impacts parenting has on freshman college students, engagement of the family in youth entertainment, adolescent development, preventive interventions for high-risk youth, and educational reform.
His first work of fiction, "My Father's Day Gift", was published in 2014.
In October 2019, it was announced that the National University would be renamed National Sanford University following a $ 350 million donation from San Diego philanthropist T. Denny Sanford.
The gift was said to be among the 15 largest in the history of US education.
But less than a year later, NU said the plan to rename the school 50 years after the La Jolla billionaire had been put on hold following news reports that Sanford was the subject of a child pornography investigation in South Dakota.
Cunningham closed his letter in part:
“I cannot thank Dr. Andrews enough for his years of dedicated service to our students, faculty, staff, and the entire community of the National University and the National University System. We look forward to continuing the successes of his career and are excited for the next chapter of the National University as we honor his vision and continue our important work to bring affordable, accessible, and world-class educational opportunities to a diverse population of adult learners. "
In a November 2020 interview with Bloomberg Opinion, Andrews said that the National University had committed to a 25% reduction in tuition during the pandemic.
“We offered free classes during the first four months of the pandemic to students who were negatively affected in their home institutions by the cancellation of courses, "he said." For our own students, we implemented a series of new scholarships that allow us to reduce the impact of tuition ".
Andrews contrasted traditional four-year schools with his and others that serve older adults: an average age of 33 for the 25,000 NU students.
"Universities have to change their way of thinking: they have to co-create and co-own a curriculum with those of [industry]," he said. “Otherwise, employers will create their own. The relevance of the university will decrease, especially in this sector that focuses on the preparation of the workforce, if we do not agree on what these credentials are like ".
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