After four years as the President of the University of Louisiana System (ULS), Dr. Randy Moffett has announced his retirement for early fall of this year.
Moffett held the position of president for Southeastern for seven years before accepting the position as president of the ULS. He had worked for Southeastern at various positions for more than 25 years.
“It has been a privilege to serve the people of Louisiana and higher education.  Over the course of my career I have had opportunities to take positions out of this state, but my heart has always kept me in Louisiana.  While I will miss working with a tremendous board, tenacious university presidents, and talented staff, I am looking forward to spending more time with my family,” stated Moffett in a press release by the ULS.
During his time at Southeastern, Moffett held major positions as dean and professor in the College of Education, head of the Department of Education and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs before being named as president of the university.  
“Dr. Moffett has been a great friend to Southeastern and our Alumni Association,” said the Director of Alumni Association, Kathy Pittman. “As Southeastern’s president, he did a great job on beautification of our campus and worked hard on the return of football, of partnerships with local communities and of helping to establish our first doctoral program. He had an open policy with students, alumni and the community and always made communications a priority. Additionally, he made many improvements to all of our universities through his presidency of the University of Louisiana System. On behalf of the board of directors and the entire Alumni Association, we wish him the best on his upcoming retirement. He will always be a member of the Southeastern family.”
Since his appointment in 2008, Moffett resided over a period with heavy budget cuts to higher education, more than $420 million, which saw the ULS lose 46 percent of its state funding. In a press release by Jackie Tisdell, vice president for communications, on the ULS website, she describes the impact that Moffett has had during these rough economical times.
“Under his leadership, the UL System increased admission standards, enhanced access to community college students, expanded online degree offerings, implemented a 120-hour degree standard, increased retention rates, reduced time to degree, increased the number of degrees awarded and raised graduation rates,” stated Tisdell.
Moffett is the latest in a string of high-ranking education officials to leave office, including LSU System President John Lombardi and Chancellor of LSU Michael Martin. Lombardi was fired by the LSU Board of Supervisors and Martin accepted a position with the Colorado State University System to become its chancellor.
“As indicated in the recent news release from the University of Louisiana System (Moffett Announces Retirement), Dr. Randy Moffett has announced his retirement as System President,” stated President John L. Crain in a statement to the university. “I know the entire Southeastern family joins me in thanking Dr. Moffett for his exemplary service, not only as President of the University of Louisiana System, but as a former Southeastern President and long-time member of the Southeastern family.”
Wayne Parker, chairman of the ULS governing board, has stated that they will soon begin the search for Moffett’s replacement, who will help in the search before he leaves.