Karen R. LaRoe, president of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology and WVU regional vice president for southern West Virginia, has announced her retirement effective July 1.

The time has come for me to devote time to my family and my health,Dr. LaRoe said in a letter to the Tech community, noting that the past five yearshave been the most wonderful of my life.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with faculty, staff and students in making Tech a little better place,she added.Our reputation is excellent, our quality is obvious, and our budget is balanced.

As president of the state’s only Institute of Technology, LaRoe saw enrollments increase four out of the past five years, while the number of high school graduates in the state has continued to decline. And while the school weathered budget cuts of more than $2 million during the past few years, Tech did so with fiscal responsibility, she noted, and excellent accreditation ratings from various accrediting agencies for four-year and community and technical colleges.

Salaries of Tech’s graduates are also outpacing those from other state higher education institutions by $6,000making Tech grads the highest paid in the state at the end of their programs, she said.

During LaRoe’s leadership, U.S. News and World Report’s 2004 America’s Best Colleges edition ranked the Montgomery school fourth among public comprehensive colleges in the South, 49 th in the nation for its undergraduate engineering program and 47 th forbest value.

Tech also established a research corporation in 2002 that brought in $1.2 million, and an Office of Sponsored Programs, also established two years ago, just completed its 50 th proposal. In addition, the Tech Foundation endowment now stands at $6 million.

During my inaugural speech, I focused on the theme that `A college is a place where we come together to challenge one another’s ideas with love and respect.’I believe that over the past five years Tech has worked through its challenges, celebrated its accomplishments and has done so by embracing this concept of collegiality,she added.

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. said LaRoe’s leadership inestablishing closer collaborations with the local community and Upper Kanawha Valley were especially importantduring her tenure.

WVU did not have as strong a presence in the Kanawha Valley as we wanted before Karen arrived,he said.She has extended the school’s reach in terms of academic programs and business collaborations between Belle and BeckleyMontgomery and Charleston, and I am deeply grateful for her excellent service.

WVU Provost Gerald Lang also cited LaRoe’s commitment to and enthusiasm for WVUIT over the years.I have particularly appreciated Karen’s commitment and dedication to Tech’s future during her tenure as president,Lang said.She has worked hard each year to bring a spirit of optimism and enthusiasm to the campus.”

Before coming to WVUIT in February 1999, LaRoe served as vice chancellor of academic affairs and professor of education at Montana State University-Northern. Before that, she was assistant vice president for academic affairs at Fitchburg (Mass.) State College, program coordinator at Ohio State University and academic skills center director at Western Michigan University.

A native of Ironton, Ohio, LaRoe earned degrees from Urbana College, Wright State University and Western Michigan.

LaRoe is WVUIT ’s eighth president. The school, a regional campus of WVU , has excellent two- and four-year degree programs as well as a technical college that offers associate’s and certification programs in several fields in addition to offering worker retraining and employee development for the state’s employers. Lang said he will engage the campus in a strategic planning activity before initiating a search for a new campus president. An interim president will likely be named later this summer.