SEARK names interim leader
Southeast Arkansas College Provost Stacy Pfluger will take over as interim president after Steven Bloomberg steps down from the full-time role Feb. 16.
The SEARK board voted unanimously to elevate Pfluger during Wednesday’s board meeting. Pfluger has been at the college since May 2022, when she was hired as vice president of academic affairs. She was promoted to provost last January.
Pfluger was previously a biology instructor for almost 14 years at Angelina College in east Texas, according to her LinkedIn page. She holds a doctorate from Texas Tech University, a master of science degree from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor of science degree from Angelo State University in west Texas.
“Most of my interim plans with SEARK is going forward with the plans we have in place,” Pfluger said Thursday evening, adding she plans to pursue the fulltime position. “Our athletics department is certainly one thing we want to see grow and succeed. We want to expand that and add some sports as we go along.”
SEARK’s baseball and softball teams are scheduled to begin their inaugural seasons this semester, with men’s and women’s basketball to come in the fall.
Bloomberg announced in December he would leave SEARK to take over as chancellor of the Kern Community College District in California. He has been the Pine Bluff college’s president since January 2018.
Following a nearly 90-minute executive session, the SEARK board agreed to hire the Association of Community College Trustees to conduct the presidential search. Board chairwoman Rebecca Pittillo said a competitive bid process was used to identify the now-approved firm.
Pittillo last month said the college plans to hire a full-time president by June. For now, Pfluger said, SEARK has plenty of good things happening in the interim.
“We want to keep open the lines of communication and make sure that students and staff members feel heard so that we can continue to go in a good direction,” Pfluger said.
That is the case, she believes, because of what she calls a family environment at the campus where faculty and staff care about each other.
“I’m looking forward to continue to serve SEARK,” Pfluger added.
In other business, SEARK is searching for a coordinator for its new local 100 Families office. 100 Families is an initiative of nonprofit Restore Hope Arkansas aimed at helping families move from crisis to career, according to Restore Hope’s website, creating an alliance of community partners, training agencies on a collaborative case management system and recruiting case managers to respond when a family is in crisis.
SEARK will be reimbursed by Restore Hope through a federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to operate the local 100 Families, Bloomberg said.
The college had total operating funds and reserves balance of $4,516,402 as of Dec. 31, a decrease of $4,039,023 from that date in 2022. SEARK has received 45% of its budgeted $11,764,769 in revenue for the year to date and has spent 54% of that same amount in budgeted expenditures, leaving an excess of $1,001,120 in excess yearto-date revenues collected over current year-to-date expenses.