NWACC board won't hear Parsons appeal

Marty Parsons
Marty Parsons

A termination appeal request for Marty Parsons was denied by the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees on Friday.

Parsons, former senior vice president for administrative services and chief financial officer at the college, was fired by Becky Paneitz, president, Aug. 1.

“His next option will be to file a lawsuit,” Brandon Cate, Parsons’ lawyer, said following the hearing. “We disagree and we are disappointed with the decision. We feel that Mr. Parsons was entitled to an appeal by the board.”

Trustees voted 2-6 against the motion to give Parsons an appeal. Johnny Haney and Mike Shupe voted in favor. Alex Vasquez, Joe Spivey, Randy Lawson, Mark Lundy, Joan Clifford and Ric Clifford voted against. Hadley Hindmarsh was absent. She previously stated that she had a flight scheduled prior to learning of the meeting.

Trustees heard from Cate along with Marshall Ney, the college’s attorney, prior to deciding on the motion.

“My recommendation is that the request for an appeal be denied,” Ney said. “Any appeal to the board of trustees must contain specific evidence, not just opinion.”

Ney said Parsons and his attorney failed to provide evidence proving that Paneitz had a conflict of interest when firing Parsons.

College policy states the board will only hear termination appeals if the college president has a conflict of interest when firing an employee. It goes on to state that evidence must be provided.

Upcoming Events