COEUR d'ALENE - Cyndie Hammond is moving on.

The executive director of Lewis-Clark State College's Coeur d'Alene center announced Thursday that this month, she is leaving her position at the college.

"Due to organizational changes at LC and Jim's retirement from the Idaho Senate, I've decided to move on to new projects that will highlight my skills and abilities," Hammond told The Press.

Hammond, who is married to Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, has been the center's leader since 2004. Her husband announced in February that he would not seek re-election after serving three terms.

"I wish LC all the best as they continue to grow, and I plan to continue with my commitment to service in Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and all North Idaho communities," said Hammond.

During Hammond's 8-year period at Lewis-Clark, enrollment at the Coeur d'Alene campus of the Lewiston-based state college grew by 48 percent, rising from 315 to 467 students.

"I know that I speak for the entire college in thanking Cyndie for her dedication to higher education in Northern Idaho." said LCSC President Tony Fernandez, in a prepared statement. "Cyndie worked tirelessly to make the center in Coeur d'Alene a success and LCSC is committed to build upon that success."

Hammond has been a strong, active advocate for collaboration among Idaho's public colleges and universities, and served as chair of a higher education consortium that serves the North Idaho region.

"We're in the business of collaboration ... and what's best for students," Hammond said in an interview published in September in The Press. "The opportunities for students will continue to multiply as the collaboration grows. Students are able to earn degrees locally and save dollars."

Hammond doesn't take all the credit for the positive things that have taken place at the center since she was given the job of growing and developing Lewis-Clark in Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho.

In a letter Hammond sent Thursday to the college's students, staff, "faculty, friends and community," she wrote: "My aim is fulfilled - and it is largely because of LC-CDA staff quality and commitment, student determination and focus, faculty integrity and experience. They all can and should say, 'We did it ourselves.'"

Rocky Owens, the associate director of LCSC-CDA, has been named the interim director.