Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas to step down in 2025

Southeast Missouri State University announced Wednesday, Aug. 28, that president Carlos Vargas will leave his position at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

Vargas’ final day is set for Monday, June 30. According to a news release from the university, SEMO’s Board of Governors will conduct a national search for his replacement and meet soon to discuss its next steps.

“Earlier today, I announced that this will be my final year as president, and I will leave the University effective June 30, 2025,” he wrote in an email to students, according to the Southeast Arrow, SEMO's student newspaper. “It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as president of Southeast Missouri State University for the past decade.”

Vargas first announced that he would not renew his contract at a luncheon with faculty and staff in the University Center, the Arrow reported.

A professor who attended the luncheon and chose to remain anonymous said that Vargas did not explicitly say he was retiring but told the staff members that his contract was ending. The university will begin a search for a new president.

Vargas’ achievements as president include earning a 10-year reaffirmation of accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, developing innovative academic programs such as industrial and systems engineering and unmanned aircraft systems, creating of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, securing statewide designation for SEMO’s visual and performing arts, computer science and cybersecurity programs, implementing a Strategic Action Plan and strategic enrollment management initiative, beginning the largest infrastructural investment in university history, launching the “Transforming Lives” capital campaign and securing more than $100 million in funding for various initiatives.

“During his time at Southeast, Vargas cemented himself as a champion of students and a strong partner for business, industry and other causes in the community,” Board of Governors president Tina Klocke said in a news release. “All the while, First Lady Pam Vargas has been by his side and is a beloved figure on campus and in the community. The two of them are loved by students, and they will be missed by the entire community, and the university could not have asked for better ambassadors over the past 10 years. On behalf of the board and the entire University community — past, present and future — I want to thank both President Vargas and Pam for their leadership, friendship, and unwavering passion for SEMO.”

Vargas was hired July 1, 2015, as the 18th president of the university, succeeding Kenneth Dobbins, who served in the role from July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2015. Dobbins announced his impending retirement in September 2014. Following a national search, the final four candidates were announced by the university’s search advisory committee in February 2015 and Vargas was officially declared as Dobbins’ replacement March 4, 2015.

Before becoming SEMO’s president, Vargas spent nearly nine years in various roles at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, including serving as the acting president from July 2014 to June 2015. He began his career in higher education at the National Autonomous University of Mexico where he received his bachelor’s degree in physics.

In 1985, Vargas began what would become an 18-year journey at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. He served in multiple administrative roles, including associate dean for research, interim assistant dean for research and interim assistant dean for the School of Technology, before leaving in 2003. After departing from Kent State, Vargas worked three years as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, before making his way to Kutztown in 2006.

Southeast Arrow reporters Blake Schowalter and Lily Niebrugge contributed to this story.