JONESBORO — The interim chancellor of Arkansas State University at Jonesboro has resigned as a member of the board of trustees of a national online educational organization, saying he wanted to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
G. Daniel Howard said Monday that he tendered his resignation as a member of the board of trustees with the American College of Education - a position he’s held since February - because of concerns raised by ASU faculty members over his involvement with the organization and university.
American College of Education is owned by Higher Education Holdings, LLC, a Dallas-based firm that contracts with the ASU System to provide online courses and degrees.
Howard said he was invited onto the nine-member board in January and took the seat in February. It is an unpaid position, he said.
“There were concerns that I was receiving some form of reimbursements,” Howard said Monday afternoon. “That was not true. There was nothing inappropriate.
“But I felt it was more prudent to stay out of harm’s way,” he said. “It makes no sense to do something perceived detrimental. My philosophy is that if you don’t need to be engaged in controversy, don’t be.”
Other board of trustee members include retired Adm. Thomas Hayward, aformer member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rod Paige, a former U.S. secretary of education under President George W. Bush; and Deborah Jewell-Sherman, the director of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
“I was proud to be a member of this board,” Howard said.
Howard met with ASU faculty senate President Beverly Boals-Gilbert, incoming faculty senate President Jack Zibluk, and other officials to discuss his position on American College of Education’s board Monday.
“To his credit, he jumped right on it,” Zibluk said of Howard. “I give him a lot of credit for that. I’m impressed by his quick response and sensibility to the faculty’s concerns.”
Howard’s role with the board surfaced late last week when an unnamed faculty member saw Howard’s name as one of the trustees on American College of Education’s website, Zibluk said.
Faculty members posted the information on the university’s Internet message board and this weekend Boals-Gilbert confronted Howard, Zibluk said.
Boals-Gilbert did not return telephone messages Monday.
“She said, ‘What do you think we should do about this?’” Zibluk said Boals-Gilbert asked Howard.
Zibluk said faculty members were concerned about Higher Education Holdings because itis a private company.
“We have limited oversight on what they do,” he said.
According to American College of Education’s website, the organization wants to “provide the highest-quality online educational programs for educators” and to “prepare highly qualified educators to meet with the challenges of education in a changing society.”
ASU faculty expressed concern in April 2009 over the Arkansas State University System’s contract with Higher Education Holdings, LLC, because they feared online educational courses damage the integrity of education.
Tom Fiala, an associate professor of education at ASU, resigned then as the College of Education’s curriculum committee chairman because he felt Higher Education Holdings was compromising education.
The ASU Faculty Senate Association passed a resolution in 2009 asking that administrators seek faculty comment when signing contracts with educational vendors.
Howard, who was instrumental in negotiating the contract with the company, said during the April 2009 ASU Faculty Senate Association meeting that he regretted not involving faculty more in the contract negotiations.
More than 2,200 students in the ASU System are enrolled in online courses through Higher Education Holdings this semester, Howard said.
In an open letter to the campus community Monday, Howard wrote that he had resigned his trustee position.
“In association with my unwavering commitment to shared governance and transparency, I believe that it is important for me to share my answers to all of the questions posed to me about this matter with the entire campus community,” he wrote.
“I have never sought, been offered, or received any compensation (salary, bonus, stipend, annuity, stock option, payment for the number of students enrolled, or other such benefit) whatsoever from either HEH or AP, and hold no stock or financial position in either corporation.”
Academic Partnerships is a firm involved with HigherEducation Holdings.
Howard, who became the top academic administrator in October 2007, second only to the chancellor, was named interim chancellor of ASU in July. He replaced then-Chancellor Robert L. Potts, who took over as interim ASU System president after J. Leslie Wyatt’s resignation effective June 30.
On May 7, when Wyatt announced his plans to leave the presidency, he said he wanted to develop online educational opportunities for students. On June 18, the ASU board of trustees appointed Wyatt as an ASU professor at a salary of $115,600.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 10/26/2010