UA-PTC forums set for applicants

3 chancellor candidates due

Public forums for the three finalists for the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College chancellor position will begin Monday and conclude Oct. 24.

The on-campus forums will be open to the public in-person at the Grand Hall on UAPTC’s main campus — 3000 West Scenic Drive in North Little Rock — as well as via Zoom, with livestreams accessible online. Information will be available on the college’s chancellor search page at https://uaptc.edu/chancellor-search/news.

While visiting, each candidate will meet with various campus communities, and University of Arkansas System stakeholders.

Each forum starts at 3:45 p.m.:

■ Wade Derden, vice president for academic affairs at National Park College in Hot Springs, on Monday.

■ Ted A. Lewis, provost/vice president of academic and student affairs at Bluefield State University in West Virginia on Tuesday.

■ Summer DeProw, provost/ vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at UA-PTC, Oct. 24.

“We’re very excited to welcome each finalist to campus and allow faculty, students and staff – as well as the greater central Arkansas community — the chance to get to know each one and learn more about their unique vision to move UA-PTC into the future,” Richard Moss, dean of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at UA-PTC and lead of the chancellor advisory search committee, said in a statement from the UA System.

“We encourage the public to tune in or come to campus for each public forum and participate in the process,” he said.

DeProw, who earned her doctorate in higher education from the University of Mississippi and has her bachelor’s degree in accounting, master’s of business administration, and specialist in Community College Education from Arkansas State University, was Business Department chair and associate professor of business at Williams Baptist University before moving back to Arkansas State, according to the UA System. She began there as director of assessment before becoming assistant vice chancellor for assessment and accreditation, then became a provost at UA-PTC.

Derden “is a sixth-generation Arkansan who grew up in central Arkansas and has served in education for more than two decades,” according to the UA System. He first taught at Arkansas State University-Beebe on Little Rock Air Force Base and at UA-PTC; upon appointment as a fulltime faculty member at the latter, Derden taught classes in history, political science, and the humanities.

Lewis, who has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master of Science in political science from the University of North Texas, and a Doctorate of Education (with distinction) in educational administration — with a specialization in community college leadership — from the University of Texas at Austin, has twice been recognized as “Administrator of the Year” at Bluefield State, a historically Black college that converted to a university this summer, according to the UA System. Previously, he was vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The committee evaluated applicants from 17 states, and interim Chancellor Ana Hunt, who did not apply for the fulltime chancellor job, “will continue to serve as interim until one of the finalists is chosen and begins their work at” the college, according to the UA System. Hunt was appointed interim by UA System President Donald Bobbitt in June following the retirement of then-Chancellor Margaret Ellibee, who announced in January her intent to retire effective June 30.

UA-PTC, the UA System’s largest two-year college, was established in 1945 as a vocational-technical school, but it has evolved through the years to meet varying education needs, according to the UA System. In addition to its main campus in North Little Rock, the college has locations across Pulaski and Saline Counties.