Peace College President Laura Carpenter Bingham has announced plans to retire.

Bingham will step down next summer after 12 years in office.

“President Bingham is a dynamic leader for Peace College who immersed herself in its life and mission,” said Peace Board of Trustees Chair Todd Robinson. “She has firmly established the college as a baccalaureate institution of choice for young women and has attracted an outstanding team of faculty and administrators who will keep the college moving forward in the years to come.”

Bingham has overseen Peace College's transition to a four-year baccalaureate institution. The campus has grown and expanded its facilities and increased enrollment.

“Twelve years is a long time in college presidencies these days,” Bingham said in a press release. And, the way I’ve done it, I’ve given my all. There comes a time when family and personal renewal beckon – and when leadership change can be healthy for an institution. Plus, I’m young enough to have yet another fulfilling career in my future.”

Peace College began offering four-year baccalaureate degrees in 1995 after a long history as a two-year college. Established in 1857, Peace was one of the earliest schools in the South for the “thorough education of girls.” The college had eight years of record enrollments during Bingham’s tenure, reaching more than 750 this year from a low of 419 when the college moved to baccalaureate status.

There's a new feature on the home pages of many of our local universities, but there's nothing fun about it.

With the lousy economy prompting budget cuts at universities public and private these days, college leaders are writing directly to constituents in an attempt to soothe frayed nerves and keep folks informed.

Some universities have simple letters from campus leaders; others, like UNC Chapel Hill, offer detailed archives of memos and communications.

Here's at least a sampling of the messages local universities are sending out to their communities.

• At Meredith College in Raleigh, President Maureen Hartford says her campus is still pouring money into financial aid initiatives and is trying to minimize tuition hikes.

• At Peace College, President Laura Bingham makes a pitch for alums to help out with donations.

• At N.C. State, Chancellor James Oblinger warns of layoffs and course eliminations. NCSU also offers up this web site for all things budget-related.

• UNC Chapel Hill has piles of information, including internal documents examining potential cuts on a department-by-department basis, at this link.

• At Duke, President Brodhead wrote at length earlier this week about a $125 million budget reduction expected to next year, as well as the instituting of salary freezes for about 6,000 workers.  (Not: As I write this, Duke has a note on its website saying it is having technical trouble, so that link may or may not work)