After nearly 15 years as Penn State’s vice president for Student Affairs, Damon Sims is stepping down from his role, the university announced Tuesday night. Andrea Dowhower, who is Penn State’s associate vice president for Student Affairs, will take Sims’ place on an interim basis while the university conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.

Sims will serve as a special assistant to the president until June 30 and will then transition into a role as a non-tenure-line associate professor.

Since taking over the vice president for Student Affairs role in 2008, Sims oversaw 33 administrative units and led more than 500 full-time and nearly 1,000 part-time workers within Student Affairs. Among the units he oversaw include Residence Life, University Health Services, and Counseling and Psychological Services.

Sims co-chaired the Campus-Community Partnership on Dangerous Drinking, which received the 2015 International Town-Gown Association’s Impact Award. Some of his other accomplishments include raising more than $24.4 million in private giving to Student Affairs and serving as one of two university vice presidents to oversee and advise THON activities. He also helped create a $44.6 million renovation and expansion project for the Hetzel Union Building.

Dowhower, on the other hand, has worked at Penn State for 20 years and has held the role of associate vice president for Student Affairs since 2017. She has been a driving force behind Penn State’s efforts to help LGBTQIA+ students across the Commonwealth Campuses.

The national search for a permanent vice president for Student Affairs will begin in the “coming months.”