Karen Ristau, Saint Mary's vice president and dean of faculty, has announced that she will be leaving her position at the College in two weeks.

Ristau said Wednesday at the Faculty Assembly meeting that her last day will be Oct. 18.

Her colleagues said they weren't sure why she was leaving.

"I don't know how long Karen was thinking of resigning," Saint Mary's President Marilou Eldred said. "We will appoint an interim dean from the faculty for the remainder of this year."

Ristau did not return Observer phone calls.

Once an interim dean of faculty has been named, Eldred will begin the search for a permanent replacement.

"A search committee will be formed after fall break to begin the search process of finding a new dean for the College," she said.

Ristau took over the position of vice president and dean of faculty in August 1999, replacing Dorothy Feigl who retired in May of 1999.

Ristau formerly served as vice president for academic affairs at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Conn., and as a faculty member at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business in St. Paul, Minn., before coming to Saint Mary's.

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