The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board chairman selected three other board members Thursday to serve alongside him in leading the search for a new agency director.
Brett Powell, 48, who has run the Department of Higher Education since January 2015, announced Monday that he was resigning to take a job as vice president for finance and administration at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
Chairman Bob Crafton of Rogers will serve on the committee with secretary Chris Gilliam of Magnolia, Jim Carr of Searcy and Olin Cook of Russellville to conduct the search for the new department leader.
The group will keep the rest of the board updated throughout the process, and other members of the board can help interview candidates if they choose, Crafton said.
"The selection committee, they're not going to hide anything," Crafton said.
Crafton said he chose the three people based on their experience and longevity on the board. They all have terms that expire in 2020 or 2021 and will be working with the new director for a few years.
More than half of the board members' terms will end by 2019.
The board designated Harold Criswell, the agency's senior associate director of administration, to manage the search and handle media requests.
Criswell said his work will begin with drafting an advertisement that will outline the requirements of the board's search, qualifications for applicants and a job description.
Arkansas Statute 25-7-101 outlines the selection process for a director. The coordinating board will choose the director with substantial input from the Presidents Council, a group of all presidents and chancellors of public two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas. The director cannot be selected without Gov. Asa Hutchinson's approval.
In the 2015 advertisement for a director, qualifications included administrative experience, finance and academic experience, and leadership skills.
The director is responsible for developing budgets for colleges and universities; administering financial aid statewide; creating the state plan for higher education; establishing the mission of each public college and university; managing department staff; approving any new academic programs; publishing data on Arkansas higher education; and certifying out-of-state schools to present postsecondary degrees, according to the 2015 advertisement.
The director can make a maximum of $203,323 in 2016-17, according to Act 236 of the Legislature's 2016 fiscal session. Private money could increase that amount.
There are no applicants yet, and Criswell said the tentative time set for the applications to close is the end of June.
The search committee reviewed 14 resumes, some longer than 40 pages, in the last search before hiring Powell.
Crafton joined the board in 2009 and is on his second term, which is to expire next year. He attended Arkansas Tech University and the University of Arkansas. He was also on the Northwest Arkansas Community College board of trustees for 12 years. He is on the academic, executive and finance committees, according to the agency's website.
Gilliam has been on the board for two years and his term ends in 2020. He went to Southern Arkansas University and was on the SAU board of trustees and Alumni Association Board. He is on the finance committee.
Hutchinson appointed Carr to the board last year and Carr's term runs out in 2021. He is senior vice president and a business professor at Harding University. He is on the academic committee.
Cook became a board member in 2008 and is on his second term, which expires in 2020. He is a former state representative and was the Higher Education Department's director for 10 years. He is on the board's academic committee.
Powell, who earned $168,128 per year at the agency, will leave his position July 29.
"I am happy for him at this point and appreciate the things he's done this past year," board member Michael Stanton said.
Metro on 05/27/2016