South Arkansas Community College has narrowed its presidential search to three candidates, each of whom will have the opportunity to speak directly to the community and students next week in a series of public forums.
Current SouthArk President Dr. Barbara Jones announced her retirement in May, and said this month that she plans to officially retire from her position on Jan. 31.
The school's Board of Trustees approved the hiring of RH Perry and Associates, a search firm, to find candidates for the position. A month before Jones's retirement, the firm has narrowed it to three: Dr. Bentley Wallace, of North Little Rock; Dr. Martin Reimer, of Iowa Falls, Iowa; and Dr. L. Dean Fisher, of Corning, New York.
Wallace has previously served as Director of Business and Transportation Technology at Arkansas State University – Newport, the vice chancellor for Economic Development at the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College and the first ever dean of the School of Technical and Professional Studies at UA – PTC, a role in which he still serves.
At ASU – Jonesboro, Wallace earned his bachelors and masters degrees. His doctoral research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville focused on workforce education. He has previously worked in the private sector in healthcare administration, construction management and in transportation-related industries.
Reimer is currently the provost at Ellsworth Community College, a part of the Iowa Valley Community College District. He started his career as an elementary teacher at the Colegio Americano in Puebla, Mexico, before moving into the private sector to work in international business. When he returned to the field of higher education, he worked as the Dean of Corporate College and Dean of Student Support at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City before joining the ECC team.
Reimer received his bachelor of arts at Central College in Pella, Iowa. From there, he earned his master of business administration in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He earned his doctor of philosophy in higher education administration from Capella University.
Fisher, a native Oklahoman, currently serves as the Provost for SUNY (State University of New York) Corning Community College. Before that, Fisher served with an Oklahoman Congressman as his Chief of Staff. Prior to that, Fisher worked at Rose State College in Oklahoma City.
Fisher received his associate of arts in general studies at Rose State College before earning his bachelors and masters in history from the University of Central Oklahoma. He earned his doctor of philosophy in education from Gwynedd Mercy University.
The public forums will be held at 10:45 a.m. in the SouthArk Library Auditorum across three days, Dec. 2-4. Wallace will host his public forum on Monday, Reimer on Tuesday and Fisher on Wednesday.