Before leaving for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Seattle this week, Rafael Rodriguez, director of Minority Student Affairs, announced his resignation.

“I have been contemplating leaving ISU for a while,” said Rodriguez, a six-year employee of Iowa State.

Rodriguez had made his decision clear to his immediate staff earlier, but the announcement was not made to the directors of Student Affairs until Tuesday.

“My six years at ISU were filled with excitement and challenges,” Rodriguez said. “I will miss my colleagues, but most of all the students I worked with.”

Rodriguez’s last day is June 6.

Teresa Branch, associate vice president of Student Affairs, will step in on an interim basis at that time.

“I’m going to go ahead and assume leadership for Minority Student Affairs,” Branch said. “I’ll spend some time working with the staff. I want to see if any new directions might be desirable.”

Branch said Rodriguez is taking a break this summer for personal and professional reasons.

“I think he’s going to spend some time trying to figure out the next chapter,” she said.

Once the summer is over, Rodriguez said he may move to an area closer to the rest of his family.

He is considering living in Colorado or Washington, where his son lives.

Thomas Hill, vice president of Student Affairs, said Rodriguez has helped redefine programs within Minority Student Affairs.

“I think his dedication to helping minority students fit into Iowa State and be a part of the mainstream at Iowa State has been very, very important,” Hill said.

Hill also said Rodriguez’s work on developing ISCORE, Iowa State’s version of NCORE, was helpful to the campus.

The Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity was first held March 2000. It is an annual event that is intended to educate the public on diversity issues.

“He’s developed some good working relationships,” Hill said. “I know people will miss him.”

It is still unclear as to who will replace Rodriguez, Branch said.

“Advertisements are usually done for people in higher education [in spring semester], so at this stage of the game we may not open it up immediately,” Branch said.

“It’s always good to kind of reevaluate when you’ve got a vacancy or any opening – to take a look and see how things are going.”

Branch said no immediate action may be taken to find a replacement for Rodriguez.

“We’re just not at that crossroad yet,” Branch said.