Come Monday, the incoming Arkansas Department of Higher Education director will make the move to Little Rock.
The outgoing director, Brett Powell, will have started his new job as vice president for finance and administration at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
On Friday, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board unanimously agreed to hire Maria Markham, 35, of Nashville as the Higher Education Department director. She will start in that role on Aug. 15 with an annual salary of $165,000, coordinating board Chairman Bob Crafton said.
"I do want to thank the search committee and the full board and all of my colleagues across the state who are supporting my desire to serve the state at this level," she said. "Thank you to Dr. Powell, who has been more than willing to give me a little insight over the last couple of days into the current events of the department, and he has spoken so highly of his staff, who I cannot wait to get started and to work with."
Markham will take the helm of the agency as it looks to implement strategies to achieve the goals of the state's higher-education master plan, which seeks to raise the percentage of adult Arkansans who have technical certificates, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees or higher to 60 percent by 2025. She will also be faced with solidifying the new method to fund the state's public colleges and universities.
The coordinating board on Friday approved a framework for the new method, the first step out of many.
Her hiring got prior approval from Gov. Asa Hutchinson, as the department director serves in his Cabinet. It also got the green light from Charles Welch -- president of the Arkansas State University System and of the Presidents Council, a group of higher-education leaders that help inform policies -- and from Margaret Ellibee, president of Pulaski Technical College, which is joining the University of Arkansas System.
Ellibee cited Markham's work experiences and academic credentials in bringing her on board as director.
"Additionally, I believe her collaborative relationships with state and local leaders, educators and the business community will be foundational to continuing the future of Arkansas higher education," Ellibee wrote in a letter to Crafton. "These elements, coupled with Dr. Markham's passion for student success -- that includes academics, technical and career aspects -- allow her to be the best candidate for the position. She is recognized statewide for her dedication to higher education and bettering the lives of students with a quality education."
Welch said the state's higher-education leaders "are very impressed" with Markham, who they believe will be a great advocate for colleges and universities.
On Friday, Markham told the state's higher-education leaders that she planned to visit each of their campuses during the next two months.
"I want to speak with the presidents and chancellors of all the schools about any concerns or needs that they may have and how we could work together to address those," she said. "I think it's really important that I have an understanding of their student population and the unique problems they have on their campus."
She will also use the opportunity to talk to the leaders one by one to help them understand the new funding method and the strategies to carry out the state's master plan.
Markham is the youngest director and the first to come from a two-year school in at least a decade.
She has worked at the multicampus Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas since 2005, starting as a director of the Career Pathways Initiative and, in the next year, becoming the division chairman for public services. In 2010, she switched duties once more at the two-year school, serving as vice chancellor for academic services.
She graduated from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and again in 2003 with a master's degree in business administration. She earned a doctorate degree from Northcentral University in Prescott Valley, Ariz., in business.
Ann Clemmer, who works as senior associate director for academic affairs at the Higher Education Department, will in as director until Markham takes over.
Powell, 49, who served as director for about 18 months, thanked the coordinating board and governor for the chance to serve. He said that he hoped he brought an analytic approach to the director's post that had one focus in mind: student success.
"With any position, you just want to leave it better than what you found it," he said Friday, his last day on the job of running the state agency. "Hopefully what we've been able to accomplish in the last 18 months has been able to move Arkansas higher education forward, has moved the Arkansas Department of Higher Education forward."
Metro on 07/30/2016