The Board of Trustees of Arkansas Baptist College (ABC) announces its launch of a national search for the College’s 16th president. Founded in 1884 in Little Rock, Arkansas, ABC is a Christian, historically black college (HBCU), sponsored by the Arkansas Consolidated Missionary Baptist Convention, current mission is to provide higher educational opportunities for underserved student populations. The Board seeks a highly motivated self-starter, one who can articulate an inspiring vision for the institution’s next ten years, grounded in the College’s mission, Baptist heritage and values, and who is committed to working closely with the Board to develop and endorse that vision. Serious candidates must exhibit the discernment needed to recruit and retain a talented administrative leadership team who, through collaboration, will be critical in building the action steps to bring that vision to fruition. The new president needs to resource those administrators to enable success in their respective areas of responsibility and then hold them accountable for their performance, through a clearly delineated evaluation process. Such specific and proven accomplishment in higher educational settings needs to be evident any candidate’s application and credentials.
The president will be an effective communicator with all of the College stakeholders: sponsoring churches, trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, community, various media, as well as the wider higher education/government/accrediting communities. In particular, conscious internal communication and transparency is essential. A commitment to serious college-wide strategic thinking and planning, resulting in clearly defined institutional goals, is a high priority. The new president must have the skills to oversee the College’s annual budget process ensuring that board priorities are evident in the allocation of human, financial, and physical resources.
The Board of Trustees is seeking an aggressive fundraiser, one with the needed gifts, graces, skills, and determination to forge meaningful relationships and partnerships for the College throughout Arkansas and beyond. This is critical in order for the institution to garner those additional financial resources, beyond governmental student aid and sponsored program allocations, that will equip the College to accomplish its mission in a consistently stable environment.
The appointment of ABC’s next president will become effective at the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year, with an expected start date of October 1, 2022. Submit nominations and application materials via email to: hr@arkansasbaptist.edu. Applications should include a letter of interest, a current resume/curriculum vitae and complete contact information for five professional references. The search committee is requesting that application materials be submitted by August 31, 2022, with the review of applications beginning and continuing until the appointment is filled. All applications and nominations will be considered confidential.
