LEWISTON – The head of the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College is stepping down.

Zark VanZandt, 60, has served as dean since 2003, overseeing all academic programs, facilities, faculty and staff. In that time he’s helped lead a campus expansion, change curriculum and create a master plan, all with limited resources.

After a six-month sabbatical, VanZandt will move to USM’s Gorham campus, where he will teach while heading the Department of Human Resource Development.

VanZandt said he’s sad to leave L-A College, its students and faculty. But there are some aspects of the job he won’t miss.

“The challenge of trying to do this job with no money,” he said. “It’s exhausting.”

VanZandt graduated from Michigan State University, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and from the University of Maine, where he received a doctorate. He began working as a public school guidance counselor and never really considered anything else.

But the opportunities seemed to come. And while he enjoyed working with kids, each opportunity brought challenges he couldn’t refuse.

He worked as a state guidance consultant in New Hampshire, then as a professor, department chairman and associate dean in the University of Southern Maine’s College of Education and Human Development. He was also interim director of USM libraries.

In 2003, VanZandt was chosen to head L-A College, citing his appreciation for the small Lewiston college with its dedicated staff and eager students.

For the last four years, VanZandt has overseen all aspects of college operations.

He’s been the jovial public face of the 1,100-student school, representing L-A College in the community, in front of the Legislature, and as part of College for ME – an effort to prepare students for community college.

During his tenure, L-A College has built a new building. It’s created a long-range plan for the facility and for academics. And it’s restructured its core curriculum.

Through it all, money has only gotten tighter – in 1990 the state gave universities 70 percent of their funding; it now only contributes 40 percent, VanZandt said. Tuition makes up the rest.

“That’s a shift that’s dramatic,” he said.

VanZandt will leave L-A College on July 1. Marvin Druker, professor of leadership and organizational studies, will take over as interim dean for a year.

Before permanently filling VanZandt’s position, officials must decide whether they want the new dean’s responsibilities to remain the same.

“There’s a lot of change in the air,” VanZandt said.

USM is also looking for a new president and a new provost.