Robinson is board’s alternative as subsequent chancellor for UA
The College of Arkansas System board of trustees has chosen Charles Robinson as the following chancellor of the Fayetteville campus. The vote was unanimous through the board’s common assembly Wednesday (Nov. 16) in Monticello.
Robinson, the provost and government vice chancellor for Educational and Pupil Affairs on the UA, has been interim chancellor since Aug. 16, 2021.
The College of Arkansas confirmed the board’s choice with a social media publish on Wednesday morning. A public vote by the board was to be held on Friday on the Fayetteville campus to find out who would be the flagship college’s subsequent chancellor. Nonetheless, board chairman Cliff Gibson left open the chance the problem might be resolved earlier than then.
On Oct. 14, the UA System introduced that the choice course of was down to 2 candidates as a result of the board couldn’t attain a consensus. The UA System announcement didn’t identify the 2 candidates. It was later discovered that Dr. Daniel Reed, presidential professor of computational science on the College of Utah, and interim UA Chancellor Dr. Charles Robinson had been the highest two.
UA System President Donald Bobbitt introduced on Sept. 2 that 4 finalists for the highest job on the state’s flagship college and one of many high analysis universities within the nation. The finalists had been: Robinson; Dr. Jay Akridge, provost and government vp for educational affairs, Purdue College; Reed; and Dr. Cynthia Younger, founding dean of the Faculty of Sciences, Clemson College.
A Freedom of Data request from Arkansas Occasions uncovered a message from Robinson to Bobbitt wherein it was discovered that Bobbitt wished to rent Reed, with Robinson being promised a return to his former job as provost however with unspecified further duties and a wage equal to or higher than his interim chancellor pay. Robinson rejected the provide.
Reed was considered the popular candidate of the Walton household, heirs to the Walmart Inc. fortune and a longtime college benefactor. The considering was confirmed final week when Steuart Walton penned an op-ed within the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (subscription required) voicing help for Reed.
“He [Reed] is the suitable chief and I, alongside my household, agree with College President Dr. Don Bobbitt’s advice and encourage the Board of Trustees to affirm it,” Walton wrote. “Some could ask why I wrote this or why I care a lot, and it’s easy: Arkansas has been residence to our household for generations. We now have regularly labored to spend money on our residence state and provides again in service of our group that enabled our success. The College of Arkansas has been an vital piece of our state’s success and shall be important for our prosperity tomorrow.”
Walton is Sam Walton’s grandson and a co-founder of Runway Group. The Bentonville holding firm invests in actual property, hospitality and out of doors recreation in Northwest Arkansas.
He supplied the next assertion Wednesday to Discuss Enterprise & Politics:
“I want to lengthen my private congratulations to Dr. Charles Robinson, who has simply been named chancellor for the College of Arkansas. That is, in actual fact, a historic second for the college and for Dr. Robinson, and we want him properly as he units a course for our college’s future.”
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
In a UA System information launch, officers stated Robinson’s preliminary contract is for 3 years. It didn’t disclose wage data.
“Dr. Robinson has confirmed to be an excellent steward of the college and its Land-grant mission throughout his time as interim Chancellor,” Bobbitt stated in an announcement. “He now has the chance to forged a broader imaginative and prescient for advancing the college as a number one public analysis college within the area and elevating its standing on the nationwide stage. He has a singular skill to encourage others and to narrate to the various completely different constituencies throughout the college, and I look ahead to working with him to assist make his tenure as Chancellor a hit.”
Robinson stated he was desirous to get to work.
“I’m trying ahead to serving our campus in its entirety and tremendously admire the help and confidence proven in me to guide the college and advance our land-grant mission,” Robinson stated.
Robinson has held quite a few jobs on the UA through the previous 23 years, starting as an assistant professor of historical past in 1999 and together with director of the African and African American Research Program, vice provost for variety, vice chancellor for scholar affairs, and as provost and government vice chancellor for educational and scholar affairs.
Throughout his time on the UA, he has led a number of initiatives targeted on scholar recruitment and success, together with a university readiness program for underrepresented college students, a serious restructuring of the Division of Pupil Affairs and a $10 million scholarship effort for first-generation, low-income Arkansans. Robinson holds a bachelor’s diploma in historical past from the College of Houston, a grasp’s diploma in historical past from Rice College, and a doctorate in historical past from the College of Houston.
