The newest online company just for the University of Arkansas formula has a chancellor and 146 full-time workers, but only two workers are state workers.
None of the 12 full-time and 237 part-time professors are also state employees, a UA System spokesman said.
The $1 acquisition of Grantham University in Lenexa, Kansas, ended Nov. 1, after the University of Arkansas board of trustees approved the deal in August, officials said.
Administrators approved the creation of a one-member limited liability corporation — the board of trustees itself — “to provide the obligation to provide quality education” for what is now known as the University of Arkansas Grantham.
Board documents describing how the deal works indicated that staff at what is now known as the University of Arkansas Grantham would be “rented employees. “
But once the deal is concluded, the for-profit university is a public institution, UA System spokesman Nate Hinkel said. a business entity.
As a component of the agreement, UA’s formula directors agreed that the AU formula would take on “some discrete responsibilities” while obtaining “substantially all assets” from Grantham University. University of Arkansas formula president Donald Bobbitt said in September that the university had about 4,000 students.
Grantham University has announced its education systems to members of the military, and Bobbitt said about two-thirds of all academics are members of the military or emergency response personnel.
Bobbitt has outlined a desire to better serve adults looking for flexible features to continue their education.
Under Bobbitt’s leadership, the UA formula created the online-only eVersity, following board approval in 2014, as its expansion slows.
Federal knowledge indicates that the University of Arkanas eVersity formula has around 800 students, 96% of whom are part-time. The board of directors.
Lindsay Bridgeman, provost of the University of Arkansas Grantham, earns $225,000 a year, according to a Nov. 4 letter from Bobbitt outlining her salary and benefits. She is a state employee, AU spokesman Nate Hinkel said.
For several months prior to the acquisition, Bridgeman served as interim president of Grantham University and joined Grantham University in 2014, assuming the role of vice president of student money services, according to Bridgeman’s curriculum published in the state’s Public Disclosure Act.
Prior to that, Bridgeman worked for a combined total of approximately 8 years at the cash aid offices of Concorde Career Colleges, Inc. and ITT Technical Institute.
Bridgeman earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Benedictine College and an MBA from Grantham University. Unlike the other rectors of the UA system, Bridgeman did earn a doctorate.
Bobbitt in the letter he expected Bridgeman to paint a lot with Moore.
“As we integrate the two universities, I anticipate that we will have to compare and realign positions at any of the universities,” Bobbitt said in the letter, adding that “his role as provost will have to be reevaluated at that time. “
At the November meeting of the UA System Board of Trustees, Moore credited Bridgeman and others at Grantham University for the growth in enrollments.
“They’ve done the task of adjusting their marketing and focusing more,” Moore said.
Bridgeman said “I can’t wait to see the future. “
“Most of our traction has been in the systems and commercial spaces where other people have been able to get in and out pretty quickly. That’s where we have a lot of moving credits and things of that nature. and complete systems quickly,” Bridgeman told administrators.
Moore told the trustees that the university in the past had a board of trustees, which was dissolved. Under the previous ownership, the organization had been paid for its oversight, Moore said. A 2020-21 course catalogue for Grantham University indexed six members of the school’s board of trustees.
Positions on the 10-person UA System Board of Directors are unpaid, and appointments for 10-year terms are made through the Governor.
Hinkel, the UA System spokesperson, in an email that Bridgeman informs Bobbitt and “ultimately” the ua system board of directors.
Bridgeman is years old and, in addition to his assignments at the University of Arkansas Grantham, is a member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ Certified Financial Aid Administrators Program Commission, he said in a statement.
Hinkel said Sara Estes, a controller at the University of Arkansas Grantham, is the establishment’s other worker, a state worker. Estes earns a salary of $100,000, Hinkel said.
The University of Arkansas Grantham continues to have in its Kansas offices due to the pandemic, most of which run remotely, Hinkel said.
“Approximately 20 members paint on site for part of the week in Kansas to carry out essential tasks. Approximately 65% of members live in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Lately there are no plans to relocate existing painters as an organization to Arkansas, Hinkel said in a statement.
He added, “However, as the establishment matures, we will prioritize the expansion of Arkansas-based UA Grantham through new employment opportunities and strategic relocation. “
Hinkel said no positions have been removed since the acquisition was approved and outlined some adjustments so far, aside from the name.
“UA Grantham has continued to function as it does without any operational adjustments in tuition or monetary aid for its students,” Hinkel said.