Columbia College president leaving to be with family in New York

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The president of Columbia College will step down at the beginning of December, citing a need to be with family in New York state as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Columbia College said in a news release Tuesday that Scott Dalrymple, president since 2014, will leave the job on Dec. 1 to return to his native Upstate New York. Tina Dalrymple, his wife who chairs the college's nursing and health sciences program, is also resigning.

Dalrymple was the dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Excelsior College in Albany, New York, before coming to Columbia. He said he'll look to lead another college or university but the needs of his family are his top priority.

“Tina and I have a deep love for Columbia College and its students,” Dalrymple said in the release. “They have become part of our family. But our actual family is in the Northeast, and we have both parents and children there who need our help as a result of the COVID pandemic.”

Dalrymple said in a separate message of thanks posted on the college website that he has not seen his family in nearly a year.

"We just can’t be apart from them so long—we need to be a car ride away," Dalrymple wrote.

Columbia College Board of Trustees Chair David Russell praised Dalrymple's leadership. He credited the outgoing president for adding new majors and sports and innovating the school's "High Flex" model that allows students to attend class in-person or online at their preference.

Dalrymple oversaw the construction of a $20 million mixed academic and dormitory building in 2017.

Russell will be acting president until the board appoints an interim leader, according to the release. He will draw no salary.