photo by: Nick Krug

An aerial image shows Daisy Hill with the additions of Oswald and Self halls during the construction process on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. The Kansas Board of Regents approved KU's request to fix Self Hall's HVAC system during a meeting on April 17, 2019.

University of Kansas Student Housing director Diana Robertson announced this week that she’ll retire in June, leaving behind multiple buildings constructed during her tenure and more in the works.

Robertson has been with KU Student Housing 17 years — director the past 11, and associate director for residence life before that — but it seems recent years have been some of her busiest. Under her leadership KU Student Housing opened Krehbiel Scholarship Hall in 2008 and McCarthy Hall (the basketball team’s apartment building) and Self and Oswald halls (connected residence halls on Daisy Hill) in 2015. Also in 2015 McCollum Hall was imploded. Stouffer Place apartments were torn down earlier this year.

More multimillion-dollar plans set in motion during Robertson’s tenure won’t see completion until after she leaves. A new Central District residence hall is supposed to open in fall 2017, a new Central District apartment complex is scheduled to open in fall 2018, Corbin Hall will get a yearlong renovation starting in summer 2017, and a five-year, $15.3 million effort to modernize KU’s eight oldest scholarship halls is slated for completion in 2018.

photo by: Nick Krug

An aerial image shows Daisy Hill with the additions of Oswald and Self halls during the construction process on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. The Kansas Board of Regents approved KU's request to fix Self Hall's HVAC system during a meeting on April 17, 2019.

photo by: Richard Gwin

KU's McCollum Hall comes crashing down during a planned demolition on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015.

No wonder she is ready for a break.

Robertson said the unfinished projects will be in good hands.

“I am confident  that the renovations that are in the works for next summer (Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall and Corbin residence hall) and beyond, as well as the opening of the new Central District housing facilities will carry on as planned,” she said. “We’ve got an excellent staff that is actively engaged in those projects.”

Another thing happening a few days after Robertson’s announced retirement date of June 27 is the Kansas law allowing concealed carry of guns on state university campuses, beginning July 1. KU and other universities have yet to have their respective policies approved by the Kansas Board of Regents, or to announce specifics about how the law will affect various buildings, but under the Regents’ statewide policy concealed weapons most likely will be allowed in campus housing with certain requirements governing their storage, and many KU community members are fearful and angry about that. I asked Robertson whether it had anything to do with her retirement date.

“The concealed carry policy is not a factor in the timing of my retirement,” she said. “Our department and the university will be prepared for implementing that policy long before I leave.”

In total Robertson has overseen more than $178 million in renovation and construction projects at KU, according to a KU news release announcing her retirement. She’s also been involved in many behind-the-scenes housing efforts and participated in national and international student housing groups.

“Diana has always had a ‘students first’ mentality, and she has worked to create the most effective living and learning environment for our students,” Tammara Durham, KU vice provost for student affairs, said in the announcement. “…Not only has she changed the Student Housing experience for generations of Jayhawks to come, she has paid careful attention to the professional development of countless graduate students and young professionals in the field of student affairs, serving both as mentor and advocate.”

Here are a few other recent KU personnel or alumni movements of note:

• Geological Survey leader: University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Rolfe Mandel has been named interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey, KU announced this week. Mandel, who also serves as senior scientist and executive director of the Odyssey Geoarchaeology Research Program at KGS, replaces Rex Buchanan, who retired at the end of September.

Note that the position title is still interim. KU says a national search will begin for the next state geologist and Kansas Geological Survey director.

• Expert on aging has new post: KU law grad Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 2009, will become vice president of aging and health policy for the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Mo., beginning Nov. 1.

“My greatest passion is working on issues of human dignity,” Greenlee said in a news release from the Center. “Advanced illness and end-of-life care need greater attention and more broad conversation. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to join the Center for Practical Bioethics. I will put my heart and soul into helping improve care for people, patients and families.”

• Attorney now Title IX coordinator: Sara Trower of KU’s Office of General Counsel has left KU to become the Title IX coordinator at Ohio University. She started this summer as the executive director of the university’s Office of Equity, Civil Rights Compliance and Accessibility, reports their student-run newspaper, The Post.

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• I’m the Journal-World’s KU and higher ed reporter. See all the newspaper’s KU coverage here. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187, on Twitter @saramarieshep or via Facebook at Facebook.com/SaraShepherdNews.