Campus News

Ritter will serve as interim head of human resources

Duane Ritter, director of the department of employment, compensation and records in human resources, will serve as interim head of the division beginning July 1.

Ritter will become interim associate vice president for human resources when Andy Brantley leaves UGA to become chief executive officer of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

Hank Huckaby, senior vice president for finance and administration, says a national search is under way to find a permanent successor to Brantley.

“Duane has demonstrated great competence in managing a key department in human resources, and especially in overseeing the restructuring of the university’s classification system,” says Huckaby. “I know he will do a fine job of leading the division during this interim period. We appreciate his willingness to accept this important responsibility.”

Ritter joined UGA in 1999 and assumed his current position in 2002 when three departments were merged to provide more integrated human resources services.

Previously he was director of organizational design and compensation services. One of his major accomplishments has been implementing and overseeing a revamp of UGA’s outdated job classification system.

The project has involved reviewing position titles and job descriptions of thousands of non-faculty employees and assigning titles that more accurately describe the work employees perform.

Before joining UGA, Ritter worked at Northwestern University where, as compensation director, he was responsible for managing salary programs for university staff workers.

He also worked three years as a compensation analyst.