DOWAGIAC — After serving Southwestern Michigan College as president for the past 18 and a half years, Dr. David Mathews announced his retirement on Tuesday morning.

Mathews joined SMC in 1997 as the dean of arts and sciences and instructional innovation. In 1998, he was promoted to vice president of instruction and later appointed as the seventh president of the institution in 2001 by the college’s board of trustees.

Mathews, who will turn 60 during this academic year, said he feels the college is in a great position, after having put his life’s work into the institution.

“I’ve been president for 18 and a half years. That’s about three times the national average,” he said. “I have a lot of things that are important in my life.”

Included in those important things are Mathews’ children. Mathews has a 26-year-old daughter, 21-year-old son and also a 9-year-old son.

Mathews announced he will officially retired on Dec. 31, but will continue working on important initiatives until then.

“Education is a competitive industry. We never rest on our laurels,” he said.

Most recently, Mathews met with Ferris State University President David L. Eisler to talk about the next bachelor programs SMC can offer on its campus.

Another aspect of work Mathews has been involved in is SMC’s student orientations, nine of which will have been offered this year.

“We are doing a real concerted effort to onboard students,” Mathews said, “To connect them with resources to make them successful.”

Mathews has also been in a constant state of planning partnerships with the area’s schools, he said, mentioning an upcoming meeting with Dowagiac Union School’s new superintendent, Jonathan Whan.

Mathews said the college has many partnerships with area high schools, but with Dowagiac being in the college’s backyard, he wants to continue to build educational opportunities for dual enrollment with Dowagiac schools.

Since the beginning of his time as president, Mathews said he wanted to focus on the success of students at the college.

“Absolutely hands down, SMC has been the only college that I’ve worked at in my professional career that always makes decisions based on students’ success,” Mathews said.

By focusing on student success metrics, such as graduation percentages, transfer student percentages, minority enrollment and other areas of metrics, Mathews wanted to make sure all students were successful, he said.

While another accomplishment of Mathews’ was brining resident halls to SMC’s campus, which he noted was transformative, he said it was possible because it fit with the success of the college’s students.

“We know residential students nationally are more successful than those who are not,” Mathews said. “Student success has been my focus. It’s what I wanted to do. When we wanted new buildings, we wanted the best educational environment for our students.”

After Dec. 31, SMC will move on without Mathews as president, but he said the institution’s future looks bright.

“The fact that we have just a culture of student success, there are of course challenges,” he said, referencing the shrinking sizes of high school graduation classes in Michigan. “That is the reality in which we operate, but to continue to make decisions based on how can more students be more successful, I’m sure that’s what SMC is going to do. That’s going to continue to serve the college and community well.”