Woman in line to make state college top-post history
Christine Holt, who has spent most of her career in higher-education administration at two-year colleges, has been recommended as the next chancellor for the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana.
If approved by the University of Arkansas board of trustees, Holt would become the first Black woman chancellor or president of any public higher-education institution in Arkansas, according to various current and former higher-education officials.
She would be the first woman to run the community college at Hope and Texarkana other than in an interim capacity.
Holt would also be the first Black person to hold the top administrative position at any UA System college or university other than at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a historically Black university that has had a number of Black chief executives. The UA System is the state’s largest network of colleges and universities.
In February, in another first in state higher-education, Johnny Moore began as chancellor of Arkansas State University-Newport, becoming the first Black chancellor in the Arkansas State University System. The ASU System is the state’s second-largest college and university system.
“It has been a historic year,” Chuck Welch, ASU System president, said in an email Wednesday. Welch once served as chancellor of what was then called the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.
Holt would begin her new job by Sept. 1. UA System’s
trustees are scheduled to meet May 26-27.
“I always speak of the significance of not only finding quality candidates, but also finding the right person at the right time to lead our campuses,” University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt said in a statement. “Dr. Holt is indeed the right person at the right time, and I’m excited about the future for UAHT and the community and region that it serves.”
Bobbitt, who selected Holt after a national search, publicly announced his recommendation Wednesday.
Holt’s salary in her new job would be $190,000 per year, plus $1,500 per month for housing, according to the UA System.
Holt is chief of staff for the University of Missouri System. She has worked for the University of Missouri campus at Columbia, Mo.; Northern Virginia Community College; and several two-year higher-education institutions in North Carolina, including Catawba Valley Community College, Montgomery Community College, Randolph Community College and Central Carolina Community College. She has also worked as an attorney.
“I quickly learned during this process that many of the things I am passionate about — connecting with students, providing opportunities and ensuring that hard work is rewarded in the workforce — are all aligned with the existing mission of this college,” Holt said in a statement. “I am grateful for the hospitality and consideration the search committee and the campus community have shown me, and certainly honored that Dr. Bobbitt is entrusting me with the wonderful opportunity to lead UAHT into the future. I can’t wait to get started.”
Holt has a doctorate in business administration from the University of Missouri at St. Louis and a juris doctorate from Cleveland State University. She earned a master of arts in adult education from East Carolina University, and a bachelor of arts in business administration from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
She would replace Chris Thomason, who left the position in the summer of 2020 to join the University of Arkansas System administration in Little Rock as vice president for planning and development.
Laura Clark, vice chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana, has been working as interim chancellor since July, according to the University of Arkansas System.
The University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana had 1,261 students in the fall 2020 semester, according to the Arkansas Division of Higher Education.