His term of office may be ending on August 31, but Prof Stephen will not be leaving UCU.
Noll and his wife Peggy will leave Uganda on August 29 and reach their home in the United States on August 30, giving room to Dr John Senyonyi to take up office.

However, Noll says he will be in and about the campus from September 5 with UCU Holdings; Peggy on the other hand will be a regular visitor as well.
Noll will take up a more active role in the management of UCU Holdings, a profit making arm of the university that is charged with the management of the land at Ntaawo and other off-site properties.
The return of the Nolls to the United States is fuelled by the fact that the two have a lot to catch up on; old friends, a home that they have had over 30 years, a pension and a well-deserved retirement among other benefits.
Unlike some missionaries who sell all they own before coming to Africa, the Nolls never sold their property in the US, they instead opted to rent out their family home.
It is the knowledge of housing that Prof Noll had with him that prompted him to venture into the development of real estate at the Ntaawo property.
“The first and only house that we ever owned was purchased under a mortgage in 1971 by Peggy and I, it was a 30-year mortgage that we finished paying for just before we came to Uganda,” says Noll.
He adds that development of real estate in organised environments in Uganda is not exploited and he intends to create decent accommodation for the many young people who can afford mortgages but would have otherwise opted to build houses. 
For a man who has been at the helm of UCU and has interacted with many people in the management of projects and attraction of foreign investment, some in the UCU community would have preferred that he stayed on as VC, he, however, disagrees.
“My departure from UCU means that I will not be able to operate as Vice Chancellor, I need to give room for the next VC, I, however, will be active in the management of UCU Holdings. I will make trips to Uganda on a quarterly basis and will be resident at the UCU Holdings wing of the guest house.” Noll said.
He adds as a missionary he made no money from UCU Holding but he was able to learn how real estate works in Uganda.
“I will be on the payroll of UCU Holding, I will be employed on a three quarter system which means that I will be coming to Uganda for one month in every quarter of the year while the other two months I will be in the US but working for UCU Holdings and also looking for sponsors and friends to associate with UCU.”
Last year the media reported that UCU was evicting squatters from its property in Ntawo, a report Noll said was false, all that UCU Holdings and not the university wanted to do was identify the uninhabited parts of the one square mile piece of land and how to best use it.
Noll plans to start mechanised agriculture on the farm alongside real estate that will be sold to individuals while proceeds from the farm will be sold to the University at subsidised prices.  
Now that Noll is leaving UCU for UCU Holdings the blur that has been confusing people will hopefully be marked out clearly and UCU Holdings will get down to serious business. 
“The fact that I am doing both, that is managing UCU as VC and UCU Holdings as MD is confusing to many people. So far UCU Holdings has kept a low profile but when things start going up; people will begin to know the difference between the two.” Noll explained. 
Having come to Uganda and Africa for the first time eleven years ago, the first place Noll visited was UCU in Mukono, he recalls that three days after his visit to Uganda, then Archbishop, Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, made him the offer to head the young university, which was much like where he had been before, Trinity Missionary School.
“When I came to UCU people thought it was a theological college and thus every one there was studying theology, it took some time before people got the difference otherwise there are a lot of differences but ultimately we are shaping Christian professionals.”
He adds that the understanding of the church says that lay people are part of God’s Kingdom the fact that we are a Christian University and that we are taking part in making Christian professionals is good. I would not be ashamed if they thought you were Christians because I would like people to hold it in that regard. 
Even though the Nolls have been in Uganda for over 10 years as permanent residents and qualify for nationality of sorts, they have opted to do it like the missionaries that they were when they came to Uganda, hold on to the principles of their calling and also to return home when the time came.
“We felt that God called us here eleven years ago, I never heard a voice saying no third term but I felt that this was the time that God wanted us to stay and now it is finished,” said Noll.
He added that before he left for his leave in May, he had preached that missionaries came and went; some go earlier while others don’t.
“This situation helped me to make up my mind because we have had good colleagues, John Senyonyi being one of them. I am certain that they will do a good job, it would have been harder if I was worried about this place but I am certain that we have talented people to run this place.”
Noll, who has been a priest since 1979 retired from the Episcopal Church in 2001 and thus qualifies for a pension in the US.
“In the US you can claim a government pension if you are between 62 and 70 years, the longer you wait the better it is for you, it is like NSSF in Uganda only that we get our pensions on a monthly basis and not in lump sum as is the case here.”
Noll however thinks that because of the good health that they have enjoyed, the prospects of a brighter future for UCU Holding and the hard financial times back home, he may have to work until he is past 70 years.
“The way things are going, I think I should work until I am 70 years old, let’s first see how UCU Holdings goes, I may work for a one year, five years or even seven years.” 
Born to Daniel and Crystal Noll and raised in a middle class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Noll was an only child who was brilliant in class and attended state schools and state university.  He also grew up in the same community as Peggy, the lady with whom he will spend his retirement.  
He has been an active sports man, who played lawn tennis and basketball.
“I have developed a problem with one of my knees so I am no longer as active as I used to be but our tennis courts here are good they are neither concrete nor tarmac, the clay is gentle on my old bones,” he adds.
Noll watches American Football, a game very much like rugby and supports the Pittsburgh Steelers, a hockey team from his own town and pays attention to current affairs.