The leader of Keene State College on Tuesday announced she will step down from her role late next month.
Melinda Treadwell, who was appointed interim president of the college in 2017 and president in 2019, is leaving her post in Keene to lead SUNY Geneseo, a liberal arts college in western New York that’s part of the state’s public university system. Her appointment at that institution will take effect Oct. 27, according to a news release from Keene State.
Treadwell was the college’s first alumna president. She graduated in 1990 with a bachelor of science in industrial safety with a minor in chemistry and has a Ph.D. in toxicology and pharmacology from Dartmouth Medical School. She joined the Keene State faculty in 2000 and later held leadership positions at the college.
In 2014, she moved to Antioch University New England, where she became vice president for academic affairs at the Keene graduate school. Two years later, she was appointed provost and CEO at the university. She returned to Keene State in 2017.
The Keene State community has been “family,” she said in Tuesday’s news release announcing her upcoming departure. “It has always been my goal to put the college first and to be a participant in the process. I hope that came across.”
USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said the university system’s board will announce transition plans in the coming weeks. In addition to Keene State, USNH includes the University of New Hampshire in Durham and Plymouth State University.
Treadwell leaves Keene State as the college and USNH grapple with a collective $18 million in budget cuts from the state. Keene State’s share of the cuts is roughly $3 million. Keene State has also started to gut its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to comply with new state law.
Treadwell took over as interim president in July 2017 during a time of tumult, after the college’s previous president, Anne E. Huot, resigned abruptly, citing personal and professional reasons. Treadwell said at the time that Keene State was facing a multimillion-dollar gap between the budget approved by the USNH board and the budget the college’s department heads thought they had. The college was also facing a decline in projected revenue from enrollment.
By 2021, the gap had closed. “The budget we will step into the next academic year with … for Keene State will be balanced, and that is the commitment we’ll be taking forward,” Treadwell said at the time. “And right now, all indication is that that’s going to be possible for us to do.”
Earlier this year, Treadwell said Keene State has made great strides in increasing revenue and keeping costs down. In Fiscal Year 2025, the college was able to shrink its operating loss to just $300,000, down from $1 million the previous year, according to financial reports from the University System of New Hampshire. In Fiscal Year 2021, that number was $18 million.
“I have strived to serve with integrity, trustworthiness and transparency,” Treadwell said in Tuesday’s news release. “I am proud of our many successes during a time of great challenges … I am proud of my legacy of responsiveness and success, and I am confident that Keene State College is well-positioned to continue to be a critical asset to the state and to the surrounding regions.”
These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.