Jim von Gremp said he planned to focus on increasing graduation rates -- while keeping an eye on cost -- as a newly appointed member of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
"It's something I felt important to work on," he said in an interview. "If there's something you can do that lasts longer than your own life -- it's to try to improve education."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed von Gremp to the position Tuesday.
Von Gremp of Rogers has served as a member of the University of Arkansas board of trustees for 11 years. He submitted a letter of resignation from that position effective Feb. 28.
"My push there has been centered around graduation rates, first-year retention rates and trying to find ways to deliver knowledge to more people. That includes traditional learning and online learning," he said. "I did some thinking and said there is a chance that I could have an impact dealing with some of these issues statewide."
He called the governor's office, which approved the switch. Von Gremp didn't know at the time that Horace Hardwick had resigned from a board position in December.
A focus on increasing efficiency at the state board could make a big difference for students, von Gremp said.
"We have a lot of intelligent people in Arkansas that don't have families with large resources," he said.
Sending more of those people to four-year colleges and community colleges will lift wages and help those families, he said.
In a statement, Hutchinson praised von Gremp for increasing access to higher education and embracing technology and online education.
"His experience makes him a natural fit for the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board and I know he will make a significant contribution as the board works to address these and other issues for the benefit of all the citizens of our state," the governor said.
Also on Tuesday, the Arkansas Department of Information Systems hired Yessica Jones as deputy director, with approval from Hutchinson.
Jones is an assistant professor in Harding University's Department of Management Information Systems, teaching data management, database design and business applications programming. Before that, she served as a solutions developer for Acxiom Corp., and as a database developer for Pennzoil.
She also served as Hutchinson's outreach liaison to the Hispanic community.
"I appreciate the opportunity the Hutchinson administration has given me," she said in a statement. "I have seen the progress and direction that [the Department of Information Systems] is taking. I look forward to helping the agency continue to be an example of an efficient organization."
She replaces Herschel Cleveland, a former Democratic Arkansas house speaker and attorney from Paris who began working at the department in 2007 as an enterprise program manager. Cleveland was appointed deputy director in 2008. He retired in June.
Mark Myers, director of the Department of Information Systems, said Jones brings a varied experience to the department.
"Yessica brings a diverse background in [information technology] from teaching programming at Harding University to being a former database developer at Acxiom," he said in a statement. "She is a great addition to a great team."
Metro on 01/27/2016