Arkansas Baptist College of Little Rock, working through another period of financial turmoil, on Tuesday named Regina Favors as interim president.
Favors, is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist College, previously served as president and CEO of Pinnacle Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, where she worked for 43 years. Before that, she worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C.
“I am humbled and enthusiastic about the opportunity to put my lifetime of experience to work for the College I love,” Favors said in a news release. “I am confident that we will quickly return the College to its original mission and the sound financial standing we had previously enjoyed and worked so hard to attain.”
Favors’ appointment comes about nine months after the private, historically black college fired Joseph Jones as president. As Arkansas Business reported last month, during Jones’ 15 months as president, enrollment plummeted from 832 to 529 and payroll ballooned to unsustainable levels, sending the financially challenged college into an operational tailspin.
The open-enrollment school has since been working out of an estimated $4 million hole, trying to rebuild enrollment back above its break-even level of 766 students. It aimed to have 600 student enrolled this fall.
Also this week, the college formally announced Little Rock attorney Richard Mays as chairman of its board of trustees. Mays has served on the board for nearly 10 years.
“We are so pleased that Regina Favors is assuming the position of Interim President,” Mays said in a news release. “Mrs. Favors is extremely well suited for this important leadership role. Regina is a graduate of this institution who has had a distinguished career as a senior business executive. No one could be more passionate about serving our students and this community. She is the right person, at the right time, to help us focus on preparing our students for a lifetime of achievement in their chosen careers.”
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