DUE WEST, S.C. Ð Dot Carter has spent her entire career on the front lines for Erskine College. Now, she says, it's time for her tour of duty to end.

She's always been right at home representing Erskine, whether she's on the phone with a parent concerned about financing a child's education, hosting a group of high school seniors interested in attending the Associate Reformed Presbyterian school, or testifying in front of a congressional panel determining national financial aid policy.

In the ever-evolving world of college admissions and financial aid, Carter defines the cliche "in-the-loop." She is respected among her colleagues at Erskine and at major state universities and small private colleges alike for her pioneering efforts in student aid and recruitment.

"Dot Carter is a remarkable person who combines exceptional people skills, an extraordinary work ethic, and rock-solid integrity," said Erskine Vice President and Dean Dr. James W. Gettys. "She has given Erskine's admissions and financial aid offices strong leadership for two decades."

Gettys said many people have no idea how much Carter will be missed at Erskine and by South Carolina's higher education establishment.

"Since her retirement was announced, college presidents, deans, financial aid and admissions officers at other institutions and high school guidance counselors have told me how much they will miss her leadership in Columbia," Gettys said. "Her ability to express herself in meetings, her reputation and her encyclopedia-like knowledge of financial aid produced respect for her in all forums."

While it's hard to imagine an Erskine event without Dot Carter, she is trying to imagine what it is going to be like to have more free time to be able to pursue her favorite hobbies, working in the yard and traveling with her husband Tracy, principal of Dixie High School in Due West.

She smiles and shows the contagious enthusiasm for retirement that made her so successful as a professional. "I'm looking forward to slowing down and smelling the roses," she said. "But I want these kids to know that I'll still be around Due West and be able to see them involved more than ever before."

Carter began working at Erskine in 1967, and remembers when Bill Lesesne and Roddy Gray were directing the admissions office. "One of the first things they asked me to do was arrange their travel plans for a workshop they were attending out of state," she said. "I got their plane tickets and hotels, and everything was perfect until they got ready to come home."

Gray and Lesesne were preparing to fly back home when they realized the tickets Carter arranged for them were one-way only. "So there they were with no money and no tickets," Carter said, shaking her head. "They never asked me to make their travel plans again."

While she didn't get far scheduling trips, Carter excelled in putting together financial packages to help parents put their children through four years at Erskine.

"That's one of the things I know I'll miss most -Ð the families I deal with and get to know," Carter said. "It's a confidential thing working with people and their finances, and they have to trust you. I always felt that was one of the things I could do best. And now I know Erskine families all over the place, and I enjoy contacting them wherever I go."

Since becoming Director of Admissions and Financial Aid in 1990, Carter has increased the average freshman class by more than 20 students a year this decade, as compared to the average freshman class of the 1980s.

Carter has also made sure that Erskine, unlike most competitive institutions, reported SAT scores for all first-year students who entered the college. She has been able to maintain the SAT average of at least 1000 on the combined SAT (or 1100 on the re-centered SAT).

She uses her financial aid expertise daily dealing with potential students. "One of the best things we've done, I think, is to put an average on the amount of money the school gives out," Carter said. "We worked closely with the Board of Trustees to develop a number that represents a certain percent of tuition and fees that we can give out as scholarships.

"It's like a puzzle, but our average has to stay at a certain percent," she said. "It gives us guidelines and helps us make the best offer up front. It's a very futuristic procedure, and keeps us operating in the black."

Carter said she feels good about the timing of her retirement. She led the way when technology exploded into the admissions and financial aid field, and Erskine was the first South Carolina School on-line. She sees the technological revolution continuing, and is excited about a new software program that Erskine is about to install.

"It won't recruit students, but it will make it easier and is a major step we have been missing," Carter said. "It will be a good set-up, a dream come true for this office. Things are going to be a little different as we head into the next century in an exciting way, and I think you will see other schools watching Erskine closely and following suit.

"It gives the college an opportunity to advance in a way it never has before."

And don't think Carter won't still be involved in some way. "Of course I'll do my best to keep up all my contacts," she said. "And certainly there's something I can help the college do."

But Carter does relish thoughts of having more time to spend with her two new grandsons, and the opportunity to give something back. She would like to use her extraordinary people skills to do hospice volunteer work.

"I want to go to the families," she said. "I remember the ladies who would come in when my dad was sick and brighten his day. They really gave the family a break."

Whatever she decides to pursue when she retires at the end of June, Dot Carter will be missed by all of Erskine. For many, she is Erskine Ð the first person parents and potential students talk to, the person who helped them move in the freshman dorm, a calming and reassuring figure during their stay in Due West, and a constant at college performances and athletic events.

"The one thing I've learned is that you can make a difference as an individual representing one college," Carter said.

For 20 years on the front lines at Erskine College, Carter has made all the difference.