HARRISBURG — The Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education has accepted the resignation of Chancellor John Cavanaugh, who has accepted an offer to lead the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area based in Washington, D.C.

Cavanaugh will leave at the end of February.

There are 14 schools in the state system, including Slippery Rock University.

“We are sorry to see Dr. Cavanaugh leave the State System. He is one of the brightest minds in higher education today,” said board of governors Chairman Guido Pichini in a statement.

Pichini said that the board and the chancellor’s office staff remain committed to their major initiatives, most importantly completing final collective bargaining agreement with the faculty union, whose contract expired June 30, 2011 and who voted to authorize a strike in November.

Under the board’s succession plan, state system Executive Vice Chancellor Peter Garland will serve as acting chancellor upon Cavanaugh’s departure.