The committee searching for the new leader of the state Department of Higher Education on Monday invited three candidates, including one from Arkansas, for final interviews next week.
The committee whittled down the list of 16 applicants to three and will meet with them July 26. The winning candidate will succeed Brett Powell, who in May announced his resignation effective July 29.
The three are:
• Maria Markham of Nashville, vice chancellor for academic services at Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas.
• MacGregor Stephenson of Austin, Texas, former deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former assistant commissioner for workforce, academic affairs and research for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
• John Townsend of Smyrna, Tenn., associate vice chancellor of workforce development for Tennessee's board of regents.
The new director would come in as Arkansas overhauls the way it funds its 11 public universities and 22 public community colleges. On July 29, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board is slated to OK a shell of the new method of funding -- which measures a school on various "outcomes," including a student's time to a degree and graduation -- and is hoping to hire the new department director.
On Monday, coordinating board Chairman Bob Crafton of Rogers and member Olin Cook of Russellville paged through the applications, laying out their top three or four choices. Two other search committee members -- Chris Gilliam of Magnolia and Jim Carr of Searcy -- had submitted the names of finalists they wanted to interview.
In total, the committee reviewed seven applications Monday, with one -- Michael Meotti of West Hartford, Conn. -- withdrawing his name, the Higher Education Department said. All of the search committee members had Markham down as a finalist.
Markham was active in the state's master plan for higher education, which seeks to raise the percentage of adult Arkansans who have technical certificates, associate degrees, bachelor degrees or higher to 60 percent by 2025, said Harold Criswell, the department's senior associate director of administration.
The state's higher education leaders have banded together in groups to form implementation strategies for the master plan, and Markham serves on one group on "adult learners," he said.
"She's got some powerful references," Crafton said.
The two later called one of her references and fellow coordinating board member, Greg Revels, to get a better feel for her work experience.
"Whatever she does, she is very diligent and works very hard," Revels said. "I have no hesitancy to recommend her."
Markham, who has worked at the multicampus Cossatot school since 2005, earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, a master's degree in business administration from the same institution and a doctorate degree in organizational leadership from Northcentral University in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
"My vision as Director of ADHE is to create a culture of collaboration and respect that will facilitate advances for the state of higher education in Arkansas," she wrote in her cover letter, adding that she wanted to instill unity among department staff, college and university partners, elected officials and the coordinating board. "All of these constituencies are ultimately on the same team and I intend to take advantage of the skills and expertise each group and individual has to offer."
Both Stephenson and Townsend had only appeared in Cook's list.
Stephenson drew Cook's attention because Arkansas' outgoing way to finance higher education institutions came from a Texas model, Cook said, acknowledging that Arkansas is hoping to move away from that method.
Stephenson graduated from Baylor University with a history degree and later earned a law degree -- another plus for Cook -- from the University of Denver, according to his resume. He also has a doctorate degree in education administration from Texas A&M University.
According to his resume, Stephenson advised Texas' governor in higher education for about four years before a stint as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Texas A&M University System. He then worked in several roles at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, including state director for community colleges.
"Each of these roles allowed me to focus attention on the goals of the Texas Higher Education Plan," he wrote in his cover letter. "With many common characteristics to Arkansas' goals, this experience can bring another perspective to the efforts to attain these goals."
The rest of his cover letter details specific recommendations to implement the state's master plan, including collaboration with campus leaders and among state agencies.
"Their salaries in Texas are much bigger than we have here," Cook said.
"And I suppose the best we've got to offer is what the director is making now," Crafton added.
Powell earned $168,128 as Higher Education Department director.
The Tennessee background of the last finalist, Townsend, caught Cook's attention. Tennessee was one of the first states to adopt a way of funding colleges and universities based solely on performance measures -- one that Arkansas has examined but not completely emulated.
His role at the neighboring state's board of regents includes facilitating student advancement through pathways from high school through a university and balancing political and economic models. He has also worked on an initiative to ease student transfers from community colleges to four-year schools.
"I want to become part of the Department of Higher Education because it reflects a philosophy to which I have committed my professional focus," Townsend wrote in his cover letter. "That philosophical focus is to help campuses and students realize a mission of access, completion and community within a value reference of respect, responsibility and responsiveness. I would like to take the best of what has already been developed; and facilitate opportunities for progress by the campus administration, student, faculty and staff based upon this positive foundation."
Townsend earned a social sciences degree from what is now Texas State University and later earned a master's degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a master's and a doctorate degree in adult education from the University of Arkansas.
Metro on 07/19/2016