Jack Selzer has released a letter announcing his plans to step down from his position as the Barry Director of the Paterno Fellows program.
“For the good of the program it’s time for me to withdraw; my term as director is up as of June 30,” Selzer said in his letter.
The creator of the Paterno Fellows program, Selzer is currently a faculty member in the English department at Penn State. The Paterno Fellows program is an honors program for students in the College of the Liberal Arts, according to Penn State News.
Selzer’s withdrawal as director of the program has been in the works for awhile, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in Liberal Arts Christopher Long said. Selzer’s plan was to step down once the first full class graduated from the program, which happened last spring, Long said.
“The sign of a healthy, thriving program is a healthy transition of leadership,” Long said.
Selzer did a “fantastic job” establishing the program, but he wants to return to teaching, Sue Paterno said.
The program is currently in search of a new director to take over, Long said. The pool of candidates for the position is “strong,” and the search committee limited the applicants to only tenured professors, Long said.
The hope is to have the new director chosen by the end of the semester, so the transition can happen by July 1, Long said. Selzer has now been named Paterno Family Professor of Literature and will be around to help guide the program, Long said.
“He set [the program] in motion, so someone could come in and add their own ideas,” Paterno said.
The withdrawal enables him to finish research projects and become more involved in teaching, Selzer said in his letter. In the letter, Selzer reflected fondly on the past six years of his involvement with the program.
