Clark State appoints Schantz to VP of business affairs

He replaces Larry Wakefield, who retires this month.

Clark State College has appointed Doug Schantz to vice president of business affairs.

Schantz, a lifelong resident of Springfield and a graduate of Wittenberg University, joined Clark State as the associate vice president of business affairs last June, according to a release from the school.

“Over the course of the last year, I have enjoyed working side-by-side with the dynamic leadership team at Clark State to further the mission of the college and promote the success of our students,” Schantz said. “I look forward to building upon that momentum in my new role.”

Schantz will take the place of Larry Wakefield who retires this month.

“(Schantz) will do fine,” Wakefield said. “He is ready, willing and able.”

Schantz has served as the director of business operations at Wittenberg University where he worked for more than 20 years and has served the higher education business officer community in a leadership capacity at the state and national levels, the release stated.

“Doug has proven himself to be collaborative, thoughtful, deliberate, student-centered, and strategic during his year at Clark State, and I look forward to working with him in this new role,” said President Dr. Jo Alice Blondin. “I have received such positive feedback from the faculty and staff as they have worked with Doug this past year, and he has the full support of the Board of Trustees.”

Wakefield was the interim vice president of business affairs from 2016 to June 2017. He then returned to the same role from October 2017 through June 2018 before serving in the position permanently for the last three years, the release stated. He will remain at the college through the fall as special assistant to the president for infrastructure projects.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Larry, and he leaves Clark State in an extremely strong financial position,” Blondin said. “Larry has led so many projects too numerous to mention, including the renovations at Rhodes Hall, and his work leading Clark State’s finances, infrastructure, maintenance, grounds, purchasing, Human Resources, and student accounts has been peerless and outstanding.”

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