Atlanta — June 11, 2008

Dr. Patrick J. Schloss, president of Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, was named today as the eighth president of Valdosta State University (VSU) by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG).

Schloss is expected to assume his new post in July. He replaces Dr. Ronald Zaccari, who retires on June 30, 2008 after six years as president.

Regent Elridge McMillan served as the chair of the Special Regents’ Committee charged with interviewing presidential finalists submitted by the campus-based Presidential Search and Advisory Committee and making a recommendation to the chancellor and full Board of Regents for final approval. “Dr. Schloss has the right combination of leadership skills temperament and experience needed to take Valdosta State University to the next level,” McMillan said. “He is the perfect fit for Valdosta State.”

“We are enormously fortunate to have recruited Dr. Schloss as the next president of Valdosta State,” said Dr. Susan Herbst, USG executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. “He is a scholar of tremendous accomplishment, a bold and strategic academic administrator, and someone with the innovative ideas to strengthen all aspects of VSU. The future of VSU is bright, and Dr. Schloss is the person to lead the way,”

During his tenure as president of Northern State University, Schloss initiated a strategic planning process titled the “Margin of Excellence.” The plan focused on three institutional priorities including recruitment, retention, and faculty scholarship. Over the first four years of the program, headcount enrollment increased 12 percent. Other “Margin of Excellence” accomplishments included a four percent increase in student retention, substantial growth in support for faculty scholarship, and creation of a budget process linking institutional objectives to campus resources. The latter achievement was cited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) as being “worthy of emulation” by similar institutions. The Commission accredited Northern, with no further review, for the next ten years. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Northern State as second among public undergraduate institutions in the Midwest.

Prior to arriving at Northern, Schloss served Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in several capacities, including acting president, provost and vice president for academic affairs, and assistant vice president and dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Schloss also served as director of the Office of Research in the College of Education and professor and chair of the Department of Special Education at the University of Missouri, and professor-in-charge of special education at The Pennsylvania State University.

Schloss has published over one hundred peer reviewed articles and ten books. His latest book is Instructional Methods for Adolescents with Learning and Behavior Problems. He has served as editor or consulting editor for a number of journals relating to issues and methods for supporting individuals with disabilities.

Schloss received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education from the University of Wisconsin (1979), a M.S. in Counseling from Illinois State University (1976), and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Illinois State University (1974).

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