After 11 years at Sacramento State, Senior Vice President of Planning, Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Lori Varlotta said she feels ready to move on.

Varlotta, a Pittsburgh native, will return 90 miles from her hometown to serve as president at Hiram College in Ohio after this spring semester. She said it could not have come at a better time.

“I feel like I’m going home in many ways because I’m very familiar with that part of the country,” Varlotta said.

A first generation college student, Varlotta earned her bachelors degree in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, her masters in Cultural Foundations of Education from Syracuse University and her doctorate in Educational Leadership’s Interdisciplinary Program from Miami University.

Following her education she went on to serve leadership positions at numerous universities including the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, Miami University, the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Over the past 11 years, Varlotta has served in three positions including vice president for student affairs and associate vice president for student affairs.

As the senior vice president of planning, enrollment management and student affairs, Varlotta oversees almost 500 full-time faculty in 30 departments.

Through these positions Varlotta has led numerous successful initiatives on campus, including improvements in enrollment management, new student housing, the Well, academic advising and the Veterans Success Center.

“We’ve done a lot of brand new things and things that have gotten acclaimed in the CSU system,” Varlotta said. “One hundred percent of the programs were for students, so it feels nice to have started programs that I think will have a positive impact on the students.”

Her most pride-worthy accomplishments were the construction of the Wellness Center and the Academic Information and Resource Center, as well as program development within departments like the Veterans Success Center, the Student-Athlete Resource Center and the first-year advising program.

Joy Stewart-James, director of the Wellness Center, said the Well on campus was an initiative of Varlotta’s that has become one of her more innovative achievements.

“She was instrumental in helping to transform how health and counseling services are delivered to students by supporting a more holistic approach, greater efficiencies and improved access for all students at the Well,” James said.

The Well, built in 2010, has provided students with a wide variety of programs, services, facilities and equipment in an attempt to promote a healthier lifestyle to its students.

“I think some of the things I’m most proud about is the fact that the Well got constructed,” Varlotta said. “I think it’s a exemplar of a building for students. It’s a great opportunity for students to get state of the art health and counseling and recreation.”

Paul Edwards, director of the Student-Athlete Resource Center, said Varlotta pushed to change the program from exclusively advising student-athletes to a much more comprehensive department that supports all aspects of student-athlete needs.

“She’s done wonderful things for the (Student-Athlete Resource Center),” Edwards said. “It was going to require a vice president like her with high energy and high motivation, who understood the basic need to support students, and she’s done that with the student athlete population.”

Edwards said since Varlotta took over supervision of athletics, major steps have been made.

“She’s done some amazing things for them,” Edwards said. “Taking on athletics for her allowed her to work with other (vice presidents) across campus to really help put athletics in a better position financially. They’ve only had her for a year or so and they’re in the infancy of her involvement so they’re gonna be sad to see her go.”

Varlotta said athletics will be one of her more unfinished projects as she prepares to leave for Hiram.

“I feel like we’re making some really good strides there and we’ve made major steps,” Varlotta said. “But I feel like there’s major steps to be made, and I feel confident that they’ll make them without me, but I would have liked to have seen a few more.”

In preparing for Hiram, Varlotta said the enrollment management she learned and experienced at Sac State will be helpful for her future, especially considering her involvement with the Graduation Initiative and student advising.

“As a team under my leadership we created a mandatory orientation program and advising program,” Varlotta said. “That, and all kinds of interventions for students who are on academic probation, all of those things are new.”

The program begins with a mandatory orientation program designed to help advise new students early on, and continue throughout their education at Sac State.

The program fits in the Graduation Initiative, designed to boost graduation rates of retention on campus.

In an address to the campus community, President Alexander Gonzalez congratulated Varlotta on her presidency and said her dedication to students will contribute to her success at Hiram.

“I appreciate her tremendous dedication to improving campus life and educational outcomes for students,” Gonzalez said. “She has an impressive understanding of the comprehensive needs of our students, and she has always applied that knowledge to her work.”

Varlotta said though she feels ready for this new stage in her life, she will be leaving with a heavy heart.

“I have very mixed emotions about leaving,” Varlotta said. “I feel like I have built a good team here, the best team on campus in the [Planning, Enrollment Management and Student Affairs] division. It feels good to leave behind an infrastructure of programs and services that benefit students and I’m excited but it’s hard to leave a job that you love, and I love this job.”