Richard Meyers will retire from his post as president of Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara at the end of next year.

He announced at the school’s Nov. 3 board of trustees meeting that he will not seek to extend his contract, which is set to expire in December 2013.

“My vision has been to leave the university in a secure financial position with a future plan,” Meyers said in a news release. “My focus has been on increased shared governance, enhanced programs and degrees that prepare students to be more socially responsible, international components that make Fielding of value globally, and increased recognition of Fielding’s unique role in higher education.”

Meyers has spent decades as an executive administrator at universities throughout the U.S. He was the founding dean of Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, where he later became dean. He went on to work at Pasadena City College, Western Oregon University and Webster University in St. Louis.

The top job at Fielding was Meyer’s fifth presidential appointment in higher education.

When Meyers steps down next year, Fielding Provost Katrina Rogers will become the school’s acting president. The board has started to search for a new full-time president.