Dive Brief:

• David Borofsky on Wednesday resigned as president of Dakota State University, effective immediately, announcing in an email that he was stepping down because the school “needs to heal” after “controversial and unpopular” leadership changes.
• Borofsky had faced criticism in June from students and alumni who accused him of forcing out Tom Halverson and Wayne Pauli, the dean and associate dean of the university's College of Business and Information Systems.
• DSU regents named South Dakota State University Vice President Marysz Rames as interim president.

Dive Insight:

The executive director of the state's Board of Regents told the Argus Leader that the regents didn’t force Borofsky to resign. But the fact that they named the interim president on the same day as the resignation indicates that they had ample warning. Borofsky had served more than two years as president of the Madison, SD, school, joining as interim president in February 2012 and fully taking the reins in October 2012. Rames will not become the permanent president, according to the regents. On the plus side for Borofsky, during his tenure, the school enjoyed substantial increases in school foundation gifts, and it added master’s and doctoral programs.