FAYETTEVILLE — The top spokesman for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has been named chief of staff for new UA Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz.
Laura Jacobs will advise Steinmetz and also be responsible for strategic planning, UA announced. The move took effect Jan. 1, the day Steinmetz officially began in his role as the university’s leader.
UA’s previous chancellor,
G. David Gearhart, did not designate a chief of staff. Jacobs will be chief of staff and an associate vice chancellor.
“I was consistently impressed with Laura as I got to know her last year during the chancellor search process in her role leading the search committee,” Steinmetz said in a statement released by UA. “Her depth of experience in strategic planning and communications combined with her natural tact in dealing with others make her a perfect fit for this important role.”
Jacobs, 43, will handle special projects and serve as a liaison “to internal and external constituencies,” the announcement said. Jacobs, who earned two degrees from UA, will also have an oversight role for the Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History.
Jacobs is set to earn $210,000 yearly. She earned $183,855 as associate vice chancellor for university relations.
Although the chief of staff title is new, university spokesman Steve Voorhies said Jacobs is filling an administrative slot that was approved by state legislators and had previously had been vacant.
Jacobs has served two stints with UA, rejoining the university in early 2014 as its top spokesman. Before that, she served for more than two years as communications director for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Earlier, she worked for UA in several roles, including senior director of strategic communications.
Last year, Jacobs replaced UA law professor Howard Brill as chairman of the chancellor search committee after Brill accepted an appointment to serve as chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. UA System President Donald Bobbitt ultimately recommended Steinmetz to trustees, who approved the hire.
The university also announced that Marcia Overby has been promoted to associate vice chancellor for administration, a title previously held by Judy Gregson Schwab, who retired last year. Her duties include office management and overseeing financial accounts that support the chancellor’s office.
Overby, an employee with UA’s chancellor’s office for about 22 years, will earn $110,000 yearly, up from the $75,000 she earned previously as an associate for administration but less than Schwab’s salary of $170,338.
Sally Adams is now executive assistant to the chancellor, earning $72,000 compared with the $59,359 she earned as an associate for communication in the chancellor’s office. Voorhies said in an email that the associate for communication position will remain vacant.
Mark Rushing replaced Jacobs as the head of UA’s Office of University Relations. He is set to earn $88,000 as acting director, up from the $76,000 he earned as director of strategic communications for university relations.