The University of Arkansas at Little Rock's interim executive vice chancellor and provost is taking on another role temporarily, as the university's new chancellor.
Christina Drale, a UALR administrator since 2006, has accepted the appointment to serve as acting chancellor -- her third job at UALR in the past year -- while University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt "considers a plan for the future leadership of the campus," according to a system news release Wednesday.
The release does not say whether the system will initiate a formal search process to replace Andrew Rogerson, whose resignation was announced Friday by the university, effective last Sunday. Rogerson, 66, was hired by Bobbitt in fall 2016.
Bobbitt will "continue visiting with UA Little Rock internal and external stakeholders leading up to the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees" on Sept. 12-13 in Fayetteville, the release states.
Drale's appointment comes five days after Steve McClellan, UALR's associate vice chancellor for finance and administration, revealed to the faculty that the university would likely fall $5 million short of its previous budget projections for this year because of a far-too-optimistic enrollment projection. The university is expected to lose students for the ninth consecutive year, but final fall enrollment numbers were not available Wednesday.
The university already expected to lose $5.6 million, which would be covered by reserves, after cutting another $6 million to avoid an even larger shortfall. Cuts included extending a hiring freeze on nonessential personnel, withholding scholarship money the university hadn't spent and cutting certain programs, among other things.
A year ago, Drale was UALR's associate vice chancellor for faculty relations and administration. In October, she took on the executive vice chancellor and provost role on an interim basis after Rogerson created a new vice chancellor position for then-Provost Velmer Burton.
In the news release, Bobbitt praised Drale's leadership skills.
"She has my full confidence and support as we work through a long-term plan for the institution," he said in the release.
Drale understands the faculty's perspective and concerns regarding retention and recruitment challenges, UALR faculty senate President Amanda Nolen said. She said she is "optimistic" about Drale moving into the role.
"I think that she's demonstrated to the campus that she can do this work and that she is listening to the very stakeholders on campus and does so in a methodical, thoughtful, measured approach," Nolen said.
Staff senate President Melody Weigel also praised Drale.
"Dr. Drale has always had an appreciation for the needs and concerns of the staff here at UA Little Rock," Weigel wrote in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "As the interim provost, she's been in a position to know about the challenges facing the university and has the reputation of a caring and thoughtful problem solver."
After Rogerson's resignation, the faculty senate sent a letter to Bobbitt asking that his replacement come from within the university. The body contended that the right replacement was someone who understands UALR's challenges and atypical, urban university setup.
In a statement released to the newspaper, Drale commended the "dedication and diligence of our faculty and staff."
"They understand that our most important work is helping our students reach their potential," the statement read. "I am confident that we will get off to a strong start as we begin to maneuver through this transitional period."
Drale's appointment is temporary. University system trustees must approve any permanent chancellor.
This is the second time Bobbitt will appoint a chancellor to UALR. Since becoming university system president in 2011, he has replaced the chancellors of all five system universities and its medical school, after resignations and retirements.
Drale is the second internal leader to take on an acting chief executive role at an Arkansas public university this summer.
In July, also amid financial turmoil, Henderson State University's president, Glen Jones Jr., resigned. General Counsel Elaine Kneebone became acting president, and the university has not started a search to replace Jones.
Drale has been at UALR since 2006, when she became associate dean of the then-College of Professional Studies and a mass communications faculty member, according to UALR's "About the Provost" webpage. She earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of California, San Diego.
Drale received $243,118 in total compensation last year, including a $203,000 base salary, according to Arkansas Department of Higher Education records. The rest comprised benefits and $600 in deferred compensation paid out during the year.
Drale takes over an institution with rapidly dropping enrollment and that's also had turnover and numerous temporary leaders in recent times.
Once Arkansas' second-largest university, UALR was the state's fifth-largest last year.
UALR is the only university in Arkansas' largest city and is one of only three universities in the state with a Carnegie Classification of R2 or above, indicating high research activity. (Arkansas State University is an R2, and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is an R1.)
Earlier this year, the university had 25 interim leaders, Drale told the faculty senate on Friday. As of Friday, she said, it had 10. Drale now occupies two temporary leadership positions.
The temporary leadership prevents long-term planning, Drale said.
The faculty, staff and students have been awaiting major changes to reverse the university's trajectory, and Nolen said that in the short-term, the faculty wants a chancellor who is transparent about enrollment issues, resource allocations and the plans to address challenges.
Faculty and staff members compiled an institutional effectiveness report, finished in February, analyzing each academic and administrative department's efficiency and success. Later, leaders wrote enrollment/recruitment and retention plans for students that were then assigned to two committees for feedback and finalizing.
But it's up to the chancellor to execute any recommendations, which should include routine data collection and measuring performance against established metrics, Nolen said.
"That's another piece of the puzzle that's missing," Nolen said. "We don't have any way of measuring effectiveness."
Leaders could look at efforts to boost enrollment and see what worked and what didn't, she said.
The lack of data is starting to change.
Nolen noted that Cody Decker, the interim vice chancellor for student affairs, has been focusing on data in the two months he's been on the job.
A Section on 09/05/2019