The search for a new president of the Southern Arkansas University System has been narrowed to three finalists, officials there announced Friday.
The candidates are Trey Berry, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SAU; Phillip Marc Wilson, president of Rich Mountain Community College in Mena; and Cornelius Wooten, vice president for administration and finance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Current SAU System President David Rankin, 73, is set to retire June 30, ending 13 years of service in the position. The SAU System has a combined 5,105 students enrolled at the main campus in Magnolia and at SAU Tech in Camden.
Forty-two people applied for the position, and the search committee -- made up of representatives from the SAU faculty, staff, alumni and Magnolia community -- has been working for months to cull the list to a handful of finalists.
Lawmakers set the president position's maximum annual salary at $196,974 for the fiscal year that ends June 30, but Rankin's salary is $203,873, according to the university. Arkansas Code 6-63-309 allows public universities to pay some employees up to 25 percent above the state-set maximum from public funds, and public salaries for top administrators and research faculty members are often supplemented with private funding.
O.A. Franks, interim chairman of the SAU board of trustees, said each of the three finalists would make "excellent presidents."
Franks also praised the search committee and said he is looking forward to the two off-campus finalists visiting SAU in the coming weeks.
"We are so lucky to be in this position, having fine, quality people interested in leading our university," he said. "It really makes me proud."
Wooten declined to comment on his selection as a finalist, saying only that "it would be inappropriate at this time."
Berry also said he had no comment.
Wilson, an SAU alumnus, said he "could not pass up an opportunity to be part of a university that has such a rich history and culture. I am very excited at a chance to help lead an already outstanding university to greater heights."
Rankin has said that when he took office as president, he knew that infrastructure improvements would be a top priority. In 2004, the $15.5 million Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center was completed, followed by a $17.5 million science center, a $2 million natural-resource research center and a $2.3 million band hall, in addition to a $2.3 million addition to the Wharton Nursing Building.
Rankin has previously said he plans to spend time with his sons at the family timber company in retirement.
"It's just one of those situations where you have been around for so long that it's just time to retire," Rankin said in May. "I've really had a great time here at this university, and it's meant a lot to me."
State Desk on 01/11/2015