With stopgap budget, Chicago-area university head resigning

CHICAGO (AP) - The president of a Chicago-area university says passage of a stopgap Illinois budget has enabled her to do what she's intended to do for a while, and that is retire.

A statement from Northeastern Illinois University says school president Sharon Hahs plans to retire on Sept. 30 after nearly a decade in the post.

Wednesday's statement says Hahs delayed those plans as Illinois' budget crisis worsened. But it says the stopgap budget last week restored stability.

Hahs has worked in public higher education for 42 years. Before coming to Northeastern, she was provost at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

The statement says Hahs will recommend that a national search for a permanent new president at the 10,000-student school be postponed until Illinois has at least one full regular budget cycle.