Price said there are several reasons for her retirement. One reason is new legislation, Senate Bill 1313, which will cut pensions for retired persons.

“Eight percent is a chunk that I can’t afford to lose,” she said. “I’ve spent 41 years working here and then for them to take eight percent doesn’t seem quite right. To avoid losing that, I’d have to retire by July 2,” Price continued.

Price said she feels it is time for someone else to take over Health Services. She also wants to focus on activities that she does not have time for after work currently. One of those activities is volunteering for dog training.

“I belong to a dog training club. I have a little dog I’m going to start training to track. I started her last winter, but I didn’t have enough time after work to do that. So I’ll have time to do that now.”

Price has also expressed interest in traveling the country. “I’ll travel afar,” she said, “but I also like to camp. I’d like to start at the northern part of the United States and go all the way down, as far as I can go with my camper.”

Given the opportunity, Price said she would travel outside of the U.S.

“I lived in Japan for a while when I was young and I would like to travel there again. I would like to visit India, the South Pacific, lots of places. There’s not many places I wouldn’t like to go, but I need to save up a little bit. The problem is you can’t ever afford enough to stay long to really enjoy a country.”

Price said while she will not miss some aspects of her career, such as meetings, she will miss providing healthcare to the students. She said: “I would like to thank the students and the student government for being supportive for all these many years. I don’t think students have ever not been supportive in what we [Health Services] do.”

Price has made many friends during her long stay at the University. She thanks everyone who has been a part of her life at UIS.