Fuller new deputy higher-ed director

The Arkansas Department of Higher Education has a new deputy director.

Nick Fuller, 35, moved to the state agency from the Department of Finance and Administration’s budget office, where he worked for 10 years. Most recently, the Malvern native worked as an assistant administrator at the Finance and Administration Department.

He started at the Higher Education Department on Jan. 2 and is replacing Tara Smith, who left the position to become the chief financial officer/vice chancellor for finance at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College. Smith had worked in many capacities in the Higher Education Department in her total non-consecutive 12-year tenure there.

Fuller will be paid $120,543 annually in his new role.