Cora Bagley Marrett has announced her resignation from Provost and senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, effective May 27, according to the News Office.

The Campus Chronicle reported yesterday that Marrett had sent her letter of resignation to Chancellor Scott.

“Over the next to months, I will do what I can to prepare for an orderly transition in the Office of Provost… This action does not affect my appointment as Professor with tenure in the Department of Sociology and Professor of Afro-American Studies,” Marrett was quoted in the article.

The Chronicle further reported that Marrett plans to conclude searches for the Vice Chancellor of Research, the Vice Chancellor of University Advancement and the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Marrett has been Provost since August 1, 1997, after a nation wide search by Chancellor David K. Scott that began in October of 1996. A renowned sociologist, Marrett was the assistant director of the National Science Foundation from 1992 to 1996. She is also former director of the United Negro College Fund/Andrew Mellon Programs. Marrett taught at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the sociology and the Afro-American studies departments prior to coming to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Marrett was a finalist for the Presidency of Iowa State University this past February, while UMass President William Bulger’s office was searching for an interim Chancellor to replace the departing Scott. Several academic deans sent a letter to Bulger, urging him to appoint Marrett to the interim post.

Marrett lost the Presidency to former Maryland administrator Gregory L Geoffrey. Bulger appointed Deputy Provost Marcellette Williams to the position of interim Chancellor, which takes effect this summer.

While Provost, Marrett garnered at least $750,000 in grant money, and urged her co-workers to do the same.

“I have at many times encouraged my colleagues to go out and get some funding,” Marrett said in February. “There are resources out there, I expect they’ll be able to do it. Whatever we undertake, we should undertake because we are going to do it and do it extremely well.”

Marrett aided in planning the Commonwealth College, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved honors program funded by the state legislature.

This academic year, Marrett has been working on addressing several issues, including the retention of both students and faculty.

The Faculty Senate yesterday passed a resolution thanking Marrett and congratulating her on “her perspective completion” of her term as Provost.

“She has held high academic standards,” Secretary Ernest May read from the motion. “She has been an effective advocate of the public educational institution.”

Chancellor Scott, addressing yesterday’s Faculty Senate meeting, commented on Marrett’s resignation.

“I had the pleasure of working with Cora Marrett in other capacities long before I selected her as provost,” he continued. “She has always brought high standards of academic excellence to all that she does and her contributions in that regard will be missed by all of us. We wish her well in her future endeavors whether here at UMass or elsewhere.”

Marrett’s resignation marks yet another high-level administration vacancy. Old Dominion University’s Provost Dr. Jo Anne Gora filled former UMass-Boston Chancellor Sherry Penney’s vacancy earlier this week. UMass-Dartmouth’s Chancellor Peter Cressy resigned in 1999.

“This is a time of major transition within the University, and as such, it is to be expected there will be significant changes within the administration,” Scott said.

“Provost Marrett has been an excellent academic leader who has made the University of Massachusetts experience a positive one for our students,” President Bulger said.

Marrett has declined to comment further on her resignation.