LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ higher-education chief Jim Purcell will leave the job he’s held for three years to take a similar position in Louisiana.
The Louisiana board of regents unanimously approved Purcell’s selection as commissioner Thursday, less than a week after he applied for the position.
“It’s very exciting,” Purcell said. “I look forward to the challenge.”
Purcell’s new job will mean he will vacate the Arkansas Department of Higher Education director’s job in the middle of a legislative session when lawmakers, university leaders and Gov. Mike Beebe are working on several key higher-education initiatives.
Those proposals, which Purcell supports, include giving more authority to the Higher Education Department and strengthening the link between an institution’s state funding and its ability to retain and graduate students.
On the same day Purcell decided to leave, Beebe appointed former state Sen. Shane Broadway - named as deputy higher-education director in January - to lead the agency until a new director comes on board.
Broadway holds a bach-elor’s degree in political science from Arkansas State University at Jonesboro.
“We will find an ADHE director who has the diplomatic skills to work with all our colleges and universities,” Beebe said in a prepared statement. “He or she must also have the ambition and drive to pursue our vision of doubling the number of Arkansans with college degrees by the year 2025.”
U.S. Census data released in December show that Arkansas ranked second from the bottom in degree-holding adults in the latter half of the decade, with only 18.9 percent of residents over age 25 holding bachelor’s degrees. That number was well below the 27.5 percent national average. Only West Virginia had fewer, with 17.1 percent.
Purcell’s hiring came quickly. He submitted his resume last Friday at the urging of a search firm that had been attempting to recruit him since September, Purcell said.
That same day, a panel of Louisiana lawmakers approved a $275,000 salary for the job. Purcell’s Arkansas salary is $188,699. On Wednesday, a panel endorsed hiring Purcell, the lone finalist for the job.
He expects to start in Louisiana before that state’s legislative session kicks off in April. Louisiana’s Senate is expected to consider Purcell’s confirmation in the spring.
“I hate that he’s leaving us at this time,” said Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, the chairman of Arkansas’ Senate Education Committee. “We’re going to be in kind of a bind doing things that we’re trying to do.”
Those things include dealing with the state’s high college remediation and low retention rates - both frequently cited by officials as contributing factors for the state’s low number of degree-holders.
“These are not simple issues,” Jeffress said. “They can’t be put off much longer, otherwise we’ll be left off in the dust behind all the other states.”
Purcell said Thursday that several bills will be introduced to the Arkansas Legislature in the next few weeks, including a “performance funding” plan, which ties state funding to course completion and degrees awarded.
That plan drew some criticism from college leaders, who argued that it’s unfair to tie funding to six-year degree completion rates in part because many Arkansas students balance jobs and classes, and take longer to graduate.
David Leech, chairman of the Higher Education board, said he would call a meeting in a few days to outline a search process to find Purcell’s replacement.
“Dr. Purcell did a great job for us,” he said. “He’s a brilliant man with a brilliant background in education. We couldn’t ask for anybody to do a better job than what he did.”
Arkansas Code Annotated 6-61-203 directs the Higher Education Coordinating Board to select a director with “substantial input, review and recommendation” from college and university leaders and the governor. The new director will be subject to Beebe’s confirmation and serve at his pleasure.
Purcell has held the Arkansas position since 2008. He was selected by a unanimous vote of the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Throughout his time in the state, recruiting firms regularly called to discuss jobs elsewhere, Purcell said. He never entertained an offer until the Louisiana position.
In Arkansas, the Higher Education Department director develops and recommends state aid for the state’s public two- and four-year colleges and universities, runs student-financial-aid programs and several federal and state grants, and oversees the higher-education institutions’ missions and the state’s master plan for higher education.
The director is also a member of the governor’s Cabinet, working with college and university leaders, the governor, the Legislature and students.
Leech said the board will look for a candidate who can help lift Arkansas’ higher-education rankings by building abridge between lawmakers and college leaders, Leech said.
Act 1114 of the regular session of 1997 abolished the state Board of Higher Education and created the Higher Education Coordinating Board, which serves in a weaker oversight role.
Under the act, appropriations requests for colleges and universities and policy decisions must be approved by a consensus of campus presidents and chancellors before the director can recommend them to the board for approval.
“It’s a hard position to fill because your job is to coordinate, not regulate,” Leech said.
As Louisiana’s commissioner, Purcell will have more direct control over policies in that state’s colleges and universities.
The presidents of Louisiana’s four systems of public post secondary education - Louisiana Community and Technical College, Louisiana State University , Southern University and the University of Louisiana - work collaboratively with the commissioner, who reports directly to the board of regents.
Leaders of Arkansas’ university systems said they are confident the department can continue its work in Purcell’s absence under Broadway’s leadership.
“There’s always uncertainty that occurs when one leader leaves and another comes on,” said B. Alan Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas System, the state’s largest. “But we are fortunate to have Shane Broadway during the transition.”
Sugg spoke Wednesday, when Purcell was approved by the regents committee and before Broadway had been selected for the interim role.
Robert Potts, interim president of the Arkansas State University System, praised Broadway’s work in the department.
“Shane is already proving his mettle to all of the institutions about his grasp of the issues,” he said. “I think he has enormous respect from all of the presidents and chancellors in the state.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/25/2011