ASU chancellor position draws 37 applicants

School’s business dean among 13 new candidates for university’s top job

The pool for the next chancellor of Arkansas State University got 13 people deeper, drawing former university leaders and the school's own business dean.

In all, 37 people have applied for the position, which is currently held by interim Chancellor Doug Whitlock. Whitlock was appointed to the chancellor's position last fall after the university's former leader, Tim Hudson, resigned without a severance package. Hudson, who was paid $360,000 annually, was the subject of several internal audits that unearthed reports of nepotism and conflicts of interest.

Whitlock's contract ends at the end of June, but it can be extended on a month-by-month basis.

Arkansas State University System President Chuck Welch, with the help of a search committee, started the hunt for a new leader Feb. 14 and plans to prioritize applications received by Monday. He will ultimately decide -- with the system's trustees' approval -- who will become the next chancellor of the 14,085-student school.

Welch has said he is hoping finalists will visit the Jonesboro university in May and that the prevailing candidate will be able to start in July.

The 13 new candidates are:

• Neil Theobald, former president of Temple University in Philadelphia. Theobald left the university after he took away duties from the university's provost and said that the school would have to spend $22 million more than expected in its financial aid budget, according to media reports.

• James Lumpkin, dean of the College of Business and Technology at the University of Texas at Tyler. Lumpkin received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1980.

• Shane Hunt, dean of ASU's College of Business.

• Thomas Sudkamp, provost, chief academic officer and vice president for curriculum and instruction at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

• Jerald Woolfolk, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at the State University of New York at Oswego. She worked as an associate dean of students for residential life at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for 11 years before becoming the dean of student life there from 2000 to 2001.

• Glen Burnette, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs for strategic planning and special initiatives at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and former special assistant to the chancellor for constituent relations there.

• Madison Sowell, former provost and member of the board of trustees at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Va.

• George Hynd, president of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., and former provost and executive vice president of academic affairs for the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

• Keith Miller, former president of Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va. Miller stepped down from the leadership role at the end of 2014 after the university's board wanted change, according to media reports. The school was facing sharp declines in enrollment, financial struggles and cuts to student services at the time, the reports said.

• Allen Sessoms, senior vice president of The Hollins Group, a higher education consulting firm, and a former president of the University of the District of Columbia. He was ousted from that president's position in 2012 when the school was facing challenges.

• Jerold Hale, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

• Serena Brenneman, a change management coach at scbrenneman LLC in North Little Rock. The business was not listed on the Arkansas Secretary of State's website.

• Ronald Eisenbaumer, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and senior adviser to the president for entrepreneurship and economic development at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Metro on 04/16/2017

Upcoming Events