Not a lot is being said about the sudden resignation of Tim Pett, the former director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Wichita State.

Pett is said to have accomplished a great deal for the Barton School of Business and the Center for Entrepreneurship during his seven years as director. That makes finding a replacement difficult.

Pett was put on administrative leave in April and has formally handed in his resignation. Lou Heldman assumed his place temporarily and is acting as an interim director to fill the administrative vacancy.

“When Dr. Pett submitted his resignation for his reasons, obviously that leaves a vacuum. The university needs people in those roles so you place someone in there on an interim bases to keep moving forward,” Ted Ayres, Vice President and General Counsel, said.

Heldman is expected to fill Pett’s duties until a permanent successor is found to take the place, a process that Ayres believes may not even yield a hire in the near future.

Cindy Claycombs was appointed Interim Dean of the Barton School of Business after former Dean Doug Hensler left WSU earlier this year. Claycomb will serve in the interim position for the 2013-2014 school year while the university searches for a permanent hire, a time frame that could be comparable to the filling of Pett’s position.

With such a large absence facing the upcoming semester, Heldman and Claycomb are left with little information and little to say about Pett’s resignation.

The Center for Entrepreneurship is in a time of transition and the interim administrators’ main focus is keeping the program stable and moving forward.