UW-La Crosse Chancellor Gow plans to step down at the end school year

The chancellor of UW-La Crosse says this will be his last year in that job.

Chancellor Joe Gow said Wednesday he’ll step down at the end of the new school year, which began this week.

Gow has been chancellor since 2007 or, as he put it, “very long time.”

“In my life, there are changes that are going on, and things I’m thinking about, and I came to a conclusion, you know, that this is a good time,” Gow told WIZM.

He said he feels “very fulfilled” during his time on campus and would like to do some new things in teaching and, away from campus, helping his wife write a cookbook.

“I’m gonna be in a faculty role,” Gow said. “I was very lucky to get this job when I was 46 years old and, so now I’m 62 years old, and so I’ve done it for a good long time.”

Gow takes pride in campus improvements made since he arrived at UW-L, and in the growth of educational programs.

He said that as of Wednesday morning, there were 2,304 new students enrolled, which is just four short of the record set last year.