A Schuylkill Haven resident was appointed the interim chancellor of Penn State Schuylkill campus.
Darcy Medica, 45, begins her new role Aug. 1.
Chancellor Kelly Austin is leaving to assume a new role as associate vice president for administration in the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses. Medica will fulfill the chancellor role while the search for Austin’s replacement occurs.
“I’m very excited and very happy to take on this new role,” Medica said Friday. “I think it will be good for our campus.”
Medica is currently the director of academic affairs and associate professor of biology at Penn State Schuylkill. She has been with the campus since 2003.
Before joining the staff, Medica taught courses at Temple University, Philadelphia, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas, and Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is a graduate of Rutgers with bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in animal sciences.
Asked what she likes about the Schuylkill campus, Medica said, “I like the fact that we get to know our students.”
The smaller atmosphere is conducive for learning, and the campus has “an environment that really cat-ers to our students,” Medica said.
Medica said she is looking forward to continuing to build “community relationships.”
“Darcy is a highly respected member of the Penn State Schuylkill community with expertise in the areas of academic affairs, program planning, faculty development and student support. We are very grateful to Kelly Austin for his many accomplishments as chancellor over the years, and I am confident that Darcy’s thoughtful leadership and experience will continue to advance the campus during this transitional period,” Madlyn Hanes, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor at Penn State, said in a press release.
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