As the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's interim chancellor, Charles F. Robinson has tried to be "of the people," and he would continue that mission of accessibility if selected as the university's new chancellor, he said Monday.
"I walk the campus because I want organic engagements," he said. "People matter, and I love the people at [this university, which] is why I want to be among them."
He also embraces constructive criticism, because "that's how we get better," he said. People "criticize because they love the university" and want to improve it.
Robinson, the first Black person to be chancellor of UA-Fayetteville even in an interim capacity, is one of four finalists for the chancellor position, and he led off a series of campus forums for the finalists Monday.
He will be followed by Jay T. Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University; Daniel A. Reed, presidential professor of computational science at the University of Utah; and Cynthia Y. Young, founding dean of the College of Sciences at Clemson University, who would be the first female chancellor of UA-Fayetteville.
As interim chancellor, Robinson didn't want to be a mere placeholder, he said. "To be an effective interim, you have to have a plan and do something, because if you don't do anything, you're just getting in the way."
Robinson rededicated the university to its land-grant mission, "because it's about service," and refocused on attracting in-state students, he said. This year, the university has not only a record overall enrollment (30,936, according to figures reported by the university last week), but also a record enrollment of Arkansans (15,479).
"We've not set an arbitrary number" on maximum desired enrollment in the future, but the university is studying spaces to see how much more enrollment growth would be beneficial, he said. "It's also about how you grow."
For example, "if we grow in graduate students, housing isn't a problem," because graduate students generally don't utilize on-campus housing, he said. However, the university actually lost graduate students compared with the fall of 2021, which "is not acceptable."
Akridge's forum is set for Wednesday, Reed's for Friday, and Young's for next Monday; more detailed information on each finalist, as well as dates, times and additional details regarding each candidate's public forum, are posted on the chancellor search website at: https://chancellor.uark.edu/chancellor-search/.
In addition to the public forum, candidates are meeting with students, faculty, staff and university stakeholders during their time on the campus of the state's largest -- and flagship -- university.
Among those to ask a question to Robinson during the question-and-answer portion of his forum Monday was Hannah Bell, who graduated from the university in 2017 before going on to law school.
She hopes Robinson is selected as the new chancellor, because "he's great, and there's no one else like him."
Bell was involved in myriad student organizations while in school, and no matter the time of day or the weather, Robinson could always be counted on to engage with her and her fellow students, she said. "He cares about students at a level you don't see often from administrators."
"He has his finger on the pulse of campus, which I think you saw with his presentation today," Bell added. "He's one of the best possible representatives for the university."
As interim chancellor, Robinson has prioritized three objectives: student success, expanding research and making the university an employer of choice.
"The people we hire are responsible for research and students success," said Robinson, who has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Houston, a master's degree in history from Rice University, and a doctorate in history from the University of Houston. "If we're not an employer of choice, how can we hire and retain the best people?"
University employees received a 5% wage increase this year -- 3% on the base and a 2% bonus -- and "we also covered an increase to their health insurance plans," Robinson said. The university is also working to create career paths for various staff positions -- "that is attractive to people" -- and hiring a "chief peoples manager to help us work with human resources issues in real time."
Part of expanding enrollment is controlling costs, and in-state tuition and fees remained essentially flat -- an increase of less than 1% -- this year, he said. "Our tuition is not the highest in the state, and I don't want it to ever be the highest, [because] the cost of higher education is one of the greatest barriers to students coming to college."
The university has expanded scholarships to Arkansans by $1 million and "scaled up" support services -- with the new Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, for example -- to help students reach graduation and find "belonging" on campus, he said. Whenever he's in the center, "it makes me wish I was a student again."
The university has achieved R-1 status -- those with "very high research activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education -- and is investing in new spaces for more research, but the university must never lose touch with all Arkansans, he said. There's a perception among some minorities and those from low socioeconomic status backgrounds that the university is "elitist, [and] we need to respond to debunk that."
Robinson, who began his career at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1999 as an assistant professor of history, was provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at the university before being named interim chancellor in August 2021 after acting Chancellor Bill Kincaid -- who was named to that role after former Chancellor Joe Steinmetz officially resigned on June 18, 2021 -- returned to his role on campus as senior managing associate general counsel. Robinson has also been chairman of the African and African American Studies Program and vice provost for diversity.
During his time as vice chancellor for student affairs, Robinson led a major restructuring of the Division of Student Affairs, positioning it to focus more on student success initiatives, according to the University of Arkansas System.
He also led institutional efforts regarding diversity recruitment and retention of students and faculty while developing new academic initiatives and development goals.
Under his leadership, the university constructed Adohi Hall, a $79 million campus project that is the only residence hall in the United States to use cross-laminated timber, according to the University of Arkansas System. His research and teaching focuses on Southern history and race relations, African American studies, sexuality in history and civil rights, among other topics, and he's earned a number of awards for his teaching, including the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award, Arkansas Student Alumni Board Teacher of the Year, and an induction into the university's Teaching Academy.
"I love history, but more than studying history, I love making history, and we can do it if we believe together," Robinson told Monday's audience streaming online and in the Jim & Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center. "I believe, and I invite you to believe, that we can overcome any problem or challenge we have -- together."
Charles Robinson, interim chancellor of the University of Arkansas, speaks Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, during the first in a series of forums for candidates for the job of chancellor at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center on the university campus in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/220913Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Charles Robinson, interim chancellor of the University of Arkansas, speaks Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, during the first in a series of forums for candidates for the job of chancellor at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center on the university campus in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/220913Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)