Nine candidates have applied so far to fill the soon-to-be-vacant chancellor's chair at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, according to applications released by the University of Arkansas System.
UAM Chancellor Jack Lassiter, 69, announced his retirement as chancellor last summer after nearly a decade leading the 3,850-student university. In September, the University of Arkansas System hired a recruitment search firm, Witt/Kieffer based in Oak Brook, Ill., to conduct a nationwide search for Lassiter's replacement.
The $110,000 contract -- which includes $85,000 compensation for two of the firm's staff members and a $25,000 expense allowance -- is financed by public funds, said Nate Hinkel, interim director of communications for the UA System.
The advertisement by Witt/Kieffer for the position says that review of the applications would begin Nov. 1 and "continue until the position is filled." The advertisement lists a June 1 expected start date for the successful candidate. Lassister's announced departure date is Jan. 5.
"There is no current interim chancellor that has been named, although it is under consideration," Hinkel said. "Dr. Lassiter also has agreed to continue working or helping out as needed until his successor is chosen and perhaps for an undisclosed amount of time afterward."
Lawmakers set the chancellor position's maximum annual salary at $196,974 for the fiscal year that ends June 30. But chancellors can earn more. Arkansas Code 6-63-309 allows public universities to pay specified employees up to 25 percent above the state-set maximum from public funds, and public salaries are often supplemented with private funding for top administrators and research faculty.
The current pool of applicants for the position range from the chief executive officer of a consulting firm to a vice president of a north Arkansas community college. They are:
• Bradley Skelcher, a tenured professor at Delaware State University in Dover, Del.
• John Gaboury, an associate provost for academic services at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.
• Mitch Shapiro, a managing partner and chief executive officer for Architecting the Future in Cincinnati and New York.
• Ron Dempsey, vice president for advancement and university development at Southern Polytechnic State University, Marietta, Ga.
• Steve Rook, vice president for academic and student affairs at Rich Mountain Community College in Mena, Ark.
• Steve Williams, dean of the college of business and tenured professor of management at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
• Yoon Sik Kim, an English professor at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Okla.
• Cliff Messina, an assistant executive director at Southern Technical College in Auburndale, Fla.
• Martin M. Shapiro, a professor of marketing, management and international business at Berkeley Colleges in New York and New Jersey.
Dempsey, Williams, Messina, Mitch Shapiro and Martin Shapiro were among 41 people who applied for the presidency of Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia earlier in the fall.
State Desk on 12/07/2014