FAYETTEVILLE -- The top leader for distance education at the University of Arkansas during a time of sharp growth in online courses will leave to take over as business dean at West Virginia University.
Javier Reyes will start his new role June 30, West Virginia University announced Friday. He will earn an annual salary of $320,000.
"It has been a very, very tough decision," said Reyes, 40, UA's vice provost for distance education and an associate dean in UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business.
He came to UA in 2003 as an assistant professor in economics, his first job in academia after earning a doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University.
Reyes earned awards and honors at UA, including a Faculty Gold Medal Award in 2008 and induction into UA's Teaching Academy in 2012, the same year he began serving as top leader for UA's Global Campus.
The Global Campus supports online courses and programs, which saw unique online course sessions increase to 1,220 in 2014-15 from 793 in 2012-13. The courses are developed by UA academic departments with support from Global Campus staff members.
The online offerings increasingly draw both students mixing a few online courses into their schedules and also online-only learners, with the online-only students increasing to 2,293 in 2014-15 compared with 1,217 in 2012-13. Students who took at least one online course increased to 12,293 in 2014-15 compared with 7,161 in 2012-13.
Asked about changes during his time overseeing the Global Campus, Reyes described the assembling of a support team to help academic departments with new learning technologies. The Global Campus employs instructional designers and technology specialists to assist UA faculty members in delivering online courses and also with other help they may need.
"We have created a team that is ready to support learning innovation for the university," Reyes said.
Ultimately, "I think it was time for the next step in my career," said Reyes, who splits his time evenly between his Walton college and Global Campus roles. He earns an annual salary of $238,810 and he said he will continue with his UA duties this semester.
UA has an interim business dean, Matthew Waller, who took over after Eli Jones left his leadership role at UA last year for a dean position at Texas A&M.
An internal candidate search will lead to a permanent replacement for Jones, said Ashok Saxena, UA's provost, with the decision made to forgo a national search after consulting last week with the Walton College faculty.
Reyes "would have been a strong candidate," Saxena said. "But he has to basically decide at this time whether he wants to stay here and compete for that position or take that position that has been offered to him."
The plan for UA is to select a new dean by the end of April, Saxena said.
"There will be a process by which anybody who's currently on the faculty of Walton College will certainly have an opportunity to apply if they want to," Saxena said.
Reyes said "it was never part of the equation for me to apply here" at UA, adding, "I would not dream to take on Matt, Matt is an amazing dean."
He thanked the UA provosts and chancellors who he said helped him advance his career.
"That's what made it really hard," Reyes said of his decision to leave. "Really knowing the opportunities that the University of Arkansas gave me here."
Saxena said, "Anytime a person who's well-thought of leaves, it is a setback." The university tried to talk Reyes out of leaving, but "it became very clear we didn't have any ammunition to do that," Saxena said. "We're sorry to see him go."
Gregory Bowman, dean of West Virginia's College of Law, directed the search that led to Reyes. About 50 candidates applied as part of a national search, Bowman said.
Reyes, who said he visited the West Virginia campus last week, spoke enthusiastically about his new job. While he's moving on, he expressed thanks for his time at UA.
"I owe a lot to this university. I will always try to find ways to make sure I'm a good ambassador for the University of Arkansas wherever I go," Reyes said.
Saxena said no decision has been made about finding the next top leader for UA's Global Campus.
"Things are changing at a much faster rate in this arena than they are in established disciplines and established pedagogical methods, so we certainly need a leader who can quickly adapt to the changes and make sure that we stay in the forefront," Saxena said.
Metro on 01/30/2016