BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College's new president will start July 11 at a salary of $205,000 a year, the same as the current president, the college's board of trustees agreed Monday.
The board approved a four-year contract with Dennis Rittle, president of Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kan. Rittle needs to give the Kansas college 90 days notice before leaving there, presiding board member Mark Scott of Rogers said during Monday's meeting. The board also approved an 11-day extension of current president Evelyn Jorgenson to cover the gap between the end of her contract and the day Rittle can start.
The board vote was unanimous among members present. Board chairwoman DeAnne Witherspoon was absent while on vacation, according to Scott. The board agreed to the contract terms after a 43-minute executive session ending at 5:30 p.m., during a meeting in Burns Hall on the college campus.
Rittle will serve as the fourth president of the college and the first new president since Jorgenson was hired in 2013.
Rittle, 52, will receive an $18,000 yearly housing allowing in addition to his salary, same as Jorgenson, according to the contract terms.
The board chose Rittle over two other finalists for the job after a week of interviews. The board decided on Rittle on April 1. The other two finalists were Wade Derden, vice president for academic affairs at National Park College in Hot Springs, and Ricky Tompkins, vice president of learning/chief academic officer at Northwest Arkansas Community College.
Northwest Arkansas Community College is the largest two-year college in the state, with 6,402 students. Cowley College in south-central Kansas had 3,762 students as of the 2019-20 school year, according to the school's website. Rittle has been Cowley's president since July 2015.
Rittle was technical advancement director at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., from May 2007 to February 2010, according to his resume. He then served as associate director of technical programs and curriculum at the Kansas Board of Regents from March to December 2010.
He went on to become dean of academic affairs at Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kan., until July 2012. He left that job to become provost and executive vice president of learning at Ozarka College in Melbourne, Ark. -- also a community college -- for three years, until taking the Cowley president's job.
Before his career in higher education, Rittle spent six years as lead pastor and CEO of Crossroads Community Church in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He received his doctorate in organizational leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., in 2009.