Twenty-two applicants are contending to become the first chancellor of a soon-to-be Arkansas State University campus.
Mid-South Community College is looking for a new leader to replace President Glen Fenter. The search comes as the 1,895-student community college in West Memphis is seeking approval from the Higher Learning Commission, a national accrediting agency, to merge with the Arkansas State University System.
Fenter, 55, who has led the college since its inception in 1992, is stepping aside to head the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce, a program that connects industry leaders in the Delta with programs at educational institutions to produce a skilled industrial workforce.
The applicants, according to documents provided by the ASU System under the state's Freedom of Information Act are:
• Charles Abasa-Nyarko of Bend, Ore., vice president for instruction at Central Oregon Community College.
• Zelphia Brown of Memphis, an instructor at Remington College in Memphis and the former online associate campus dean at Strayer University in the same city.
• Godwin Chungag of Coral Springs, Fla., dean of information technology and engineering at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale.
• Kenneth Done of Hernando, Miss., assistant vice president for distance and online education and adjunct professor of criminal justice at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Miss.
• Donald Green of Jacksonville, Fla., president of Higher Academic Innovations, a higher education consulting firm, and a former executive vice president for instruction and student services at Florida State College in Jacksonville.
• Robert Gunter of Marion, vice president for workforce education at Mid-South Community College and former deputy director for career and technical education at the state Department of Career Education.
• Gaby Hawat of Windermere, Fla., special assistant to the president and senior executive for strategic initiative and economic development at Valencia College in Orlando.
• David Heflin of Sioux Falls, S.D., campus president and adjunct instructor at Colorado Technical University.
• Gregory Hudson of Robinsonville, Miss., former Coahoma Community College vice president for student affairs and support services.
• Peter Iyere of Provo, Utah, vice chancellor for student success at Utah State University Eastern.
• James Maxwell of Jacksonville, Ill., provost and vice president for academic affairs and student life at MacMurray College.
• Samuel Nichols of Lorton, Va., director of enterprise records service at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Ashok Roy of Fairbanks, Alaska, vice president for finance and administration, chief financial officer for the University of Alaska System.
• Joshua Searcy of Xenia, Ohio, health education program coordinator and supervisor of health and physical education student teachers at Central State University's Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
• James Smith of Wolfforth, Texas, provost and vice president of academics at University of the Southwest in New Mexico.
• Kevin Stewart of Alexandria, La., vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at Central Louisiana Technical Community College.
• Daanen Strachan of Washington, D.C., a managing partner and president of the education division of ARS Consulting, a systems integration firm.
• Anthony Tricoli of Madisonville, Tenn., president and chief executive of the Boys and Girls Club of the Monroe Area in eastern Tennessee and the president and CEO of The Global Center for the Advancement of Higher Education, a consulting firm.
• Patrick Vaughn of O'Fallon, Mo., vice president for academic afairs at St. Louis Community College's Wildwood campus.
• Jeffrey Watson of Palestine, Texas, provost of Trinity Valley Community College's Palestine campus.
• Clark Williams of Pendleton, Ore., principal at C&L Associates, a management, programmatic, technical and financial consulting firm for higher education institutions, and former president of Cowley County Community College in Kansas.
• Steven Yoho of Roswell, Ga., campus president of Argosy University.
The new leader will report to ASU System President Charles Welch, who is also leading the search committee for the chancellorship. The search committee will begin reviewing the applications April 15.
The board of trustees for the ASU System and for Mid-South approved merging the community college into the system in January. Once the Higher Learning Commission approves the merger, the school will be called Arkansas State University Mid-South.
Under that merger, Fenter's presidential position will evolve into a chancellor's position. An advertisement for the new position places a priority on candidates who have experience in workforce development and training and in identifying, soliciting and securing alternative revenue.
The posting said the salary would depend on the winning candidate's experience and that an "outstanding benefits package including a residence located on a golf course" is included. According to the state appropriations for the community college for the 2015-16 fiscal year, the new chancellor will make at least $154,578, though a state law allows institutions to pitch in more funding.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae and five references, including names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. The package must be sent electronically -- via Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF -- to [email protected].
Metro on 03/29/2015