Chancellor's Search Finalists Announced; Public Presentations Scheduled

The UACCM Chancellor Search Committee has announced four finalists. The public is invited to attend their presentations and hear their visions of UACCM's future. 

Four finalists have been named in the chancellor search for the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, and each will make presentations to the community in the coming weeks.  Finalists include those from both Arkansas and out of state. 

The following are the four finalists determined by the Chancellor Search Committee: 

Brian Berry: executive vice chancellor for Student Services and Administration, UACC-Hope-Texarkana. Mr. Berry received a B.S. from Arkansas Tech University and a M.E. from Loyola University Chicago. His previous work experience includes over 20 years of experience. 

Dennis C. Rittle, Ph.D.: president of Cowley College, Arkansas City, Kansas. Dr. Rittle received an A.A.S. in Meteorology and Teaching at the Community College of the Air Force, a B.A. in Theology at Evangel University, a M.A. in Leadership Studies from The Graduate School at Lancaster Bible College, a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at Regent University, and post-doctoral studies in Education Management from Harvard University. He has 25 years of experience in higher education.

Ricky Tompkins, Ed.D.: vice president of Learning/Chief Academic Officer, Northwest Arkansas Community College. Dr. Tompkins received a B.A. in Church Careers at East Texas Baptist University, a M.L.A. from Henderson State University, and an Ed.D. with an emphasis in Higher Education and 2-Year College Leadership from UA Little Rock. He has 24 years of experience in higher education.

Lisa Willenberg: vice chancellor for Finance & Operations, University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton. Ms. Willenberg has a B.B.A. from the University of Central Arkansas and a M.E. from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She has 27 years of experience in higher education. 

Finalists are scheduled to visit the UACCM campus on Tuesday, September 17 (Tompkins); Wednesday, September 18 (Willenberg); Monday, September 23 (Berry); and Thursday, September 26 (Rittle). Candidates will visit current students, faculty, staff and members of the community while on campus. 

Each candidate will give a formal presentation and a question/answer session from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., each day of their visits in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Attendees will be given the opportunity to complete an evaluation of each candidate to be submitted to the search committee. The presentations will also be live streamed and will be available for the public to view on Facebook and YouTube. 

Following each candidate’s campus visit, the search committee will make a recommendation to UA System President Dr. Donald Bobbitt, who will make a final recommendation to the UA System Board of Trustees regarding UACCM’s next chancellor.

The chancellor position opening garnered 53 applicants from across the nation. The Chancellor Search Committee appointed by UA System President Dr. Donald R. Bobbitt has spent the past several months researching and deliberating to narrow the list of candidates that would move forward to the final phase. 

Chancellor Search Committee Chair Mary Clark said, “The position opening drew an exceptional pool of applicants who met our preferred qualifications and demonstrated the leadership skills, background, and experience described in the announcement. We were very impressed with their credentials and commitment to the community college mission.  

“The Committee is aware of the tremendous significance of this search and has spent considerable time reviewing the candidates, endeavoring to find those whose qualifications best match the requirements of the Chancellor position. I want to thank each committee member who is participating in the search and will be taking part in the interviews with the finalists.”

For more information about the Chancellor's Search process, visit http://www.uaccm.edu/chancellor_search/index.htm.