Director of Labor and Employee Relations Kim A. Roberts '78, the lead University negotiator for union contracts and a staff member to the Ad Hoc Committee on Employment Policies, will resign from her post effective June 30.

Roberts, who served less than two years, cited personal reasons for her departure.

She said she plans to move to New York to be closer to her family.

"I found that I was not able to achieve certain personal goals that I had hoped to achieve in moving here," Roberts wrote in an e-mail message. "I came to realize that I had badly underestimated the stress of traveling back and forth to New York when family obligations require."

Roberts' resignation came as a surprise to University officials, who said they hoped she would stay longer.

"I was shocked," said Polly Price, associate vice president for human resources. "I was hoping she would be here for years."

Price said the position has historically had a high turnover rate and been a hard one to fill.

Roberts assumed her post after a nine-month search, in August 1998.