The Office of Student Life will be without its leader in less than a month. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, Director of Student Life Adam Peck announced his intention to resign from his position, which he said was “a really difficult decision and not one I took lightly . My colleagues here at [Saint Louis University] are just exceptional people.”

Peck was hired at SLU as the director in July 2005, and will continue to serve as such until his last day here, on Jan. 4. He departs St. Louis for Nacogdoches, Texas, where he will take up a post as the new Dean of Student Affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University. His new position will place him in charge of career services, counseling, disability services, Greek affairs, health services, leadership programs, multicultural student affairs, student activities, student conduct, student life and student support services.

“We’re really happy for Adam,” said Vice President of Student Development Kent Porterfield, Ed.D., though he admitted the timing was not “terrific,” since a search to find a new director generally spans months.

“It’s both a challenge and an opportunity, but we try to focus on the opportunity,” Porterfield said.

Peck already had prior ties to Texas since he worked at the University of Texas in Austin prior to his time at SLU.

He was invited to apply for his new job in July.

“It was a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “In truth, I really didn’t think I had a shot at it.”

Peck said he anticipates challenges in the way his life will be uprooted in under a month, but he is looking forward to starting work on Jan. 7 at SFASU, which he said is “poised for tremendous growth . That’s really exciting to me.”

Even so, Peck said he is going to miss the time he’s spent at SLU, which he said he considers to be the “best time of his life.”

“I suspect that I will never again work with students more worldly and smart as students here at SLU,” he said. “There is something exceptionally wonderful going on with [SLU] students.”

Though Student Life Office Manager Cheryl Kaufman admitted to having “woman’s intuition” that Peck might leave at some point, she said he would be missed.

“I was really upset [when I found out he was leaving],” she said. ” I felt like we had a great team going right now.”

Preparations to find a replacement director are in the very beginning stages, and probably won’t get seriously underway until after the first of the year, Porterfield said.

A decision of whether an interim director will be appointed has not yet been made, Porterfield said, but he added that “some of the responsibilities will definitely have to be spread out,” in the meantime. He said a number of different options are currently under consideration, and that a more specific course of action would be announced in seven to 10 days.

Porterfield said plans were in process to reach out to students in the hiring process.

“We fully recognize the significance of the position to students and student organizations,” he said.