This December, Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs Steve Smith will retire after 36 years at UNA. Although he said he is sad to leave, Smith said he believes it is the right time.

“I’ll be 64 in December, and this allows an opportunity for new people to come in, get new ideas and pose new changes,” Smith said.

Although he is leaving, Smith said he plans to live in the area and support university athletics and other university programs.

“I didn’t do undergraduate here, but I did my graduate school (here), so I’m an alumni,” Smith said. “Both of my children graduated from here, so I’ve got vested interest in this school.”

After retiring, Smith said he looks forward to spending time with his family.

“I have two grandchildren — eight and five — one due any time now and another due in December, so I’ll go from two to four,” Smith said. “My wife retired a couple of years ago, so this will give me time to spend more time with my family.”

Though he does not know who his replacement will be, Smith said he does intend to leave the financial state of the university in good hands.

“I have an individual who works with me very closely — Ms. Donna Tipps,” Smith said. “She’s my controller, and she’s been here around 17 or 18 years. She’s involved in a lot of the counting.

“There’s a lot to learn over 36 years. You gather a lot of information. You have a lot of experience. A lot of decisions have to be developed in your mind based on that experience sometimes.  You have to develop a rationale for making certain decisions, and you pull all of that together, the experience (and) educational background that you have and use that to make the best decision for the school.”

Smith said he’ll specifically miss one thing about UNA.

“I’ll miss my interaction with the students,” Smith said. “I really have enjoyed that. If you don’t like working with students, you shouldn’t be here.”