Chancellor Finalists to Visit UA Hope-Texarkana in April

The committee leading a national job search to find the next chancellor for the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana has announced four finalists.

All are scheduled to make campus visits this month.

The finalists are:

• Timothy Cornelius, academic vice president of career and workforce education at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. His previous roles include dean and interim associate vice president of the Business and Computer Information Division at NWACC, adjunct professor at Texas A&M University-Texarkana and division manager/corporate counsel/vice president/controller at Pyramid Plastics. Cornelius has also worked as an attorney and was named a Sam Walton Fellow. He holds a juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a master of business administration from Texas A&M University-Texarkana and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas A&M University-Texarkana.

• Brian Berry, vice chancellor for student services at the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana. His previous roles include executive vice chancellor for student services and administration at UAHT; vice chancellor for enrollment management and student services at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville; dean of students at Southern Arkansas University; director of enrollment management, counselor/coordinator of academic advising, director of student life and counselor/coordinator of residence life and student activities at Arkansas State University-Beebe;  assistant director of residence life at Arkansas Tech University; and branch manager and loan officer at Regions Bank in Beebe. Berry holds a master’s degree in higher education leadership from Loyola University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in business economics and finance from ATU.
• Jeff Jochems, who recently retired and serves as a part-time COVID-19 lead case manager at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Missouri. His previous roles include president/vice chancellor at OTC-Richwood Valley Campus; interim president at OTC-Table Rock Campus; adjunct instructor at Lindenwood University; assistant vice president, dean of student development, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid and director of financial aid at OTC; and admissions counselor at Southwestern College. Jochems holds a doctorate in higher education leadership from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a master’s degree in higher education student personnel from the University of Kansas, a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washburn University and an associate’s degree in business from Pratt Community College.

• Christine Holt, chief of staff at the University of Missouri System. Holt’s previous roles include associate provost at the University of Missouri at Columbia; dean of academic administration, interim dean of learning and technology resources, interim dean of students and interim provost at Northern Virginia Community College; executive director at Catawba Valley Community College; career development coordinator at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center; human resource development coordinator at Montgomery Community College; site coordinator and workplace literacy instructor at Randolph Community College; and workplace literacy instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She has also worked as an attorney. Holt holds a juris doctorate from Cleveland State University, a master’s degree in adult education from East Carolina University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Capital University. Also, in January at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, she successfully defended her dissertation. A boctorate in business administration will be conferred to her later this spring.

The national search resulted in applications from 22 states and two countries, John Hollis, chair of the search committee, said in a news release. 

Each of the four candidates will address the community when they visit. The visits are April 12 for Cornelius, April 13 for Berry, April 19 for Jochems and April 20 for Holt.

Their addresses will be streamed live at 3:45 p.m. the day of their visits, on the UAHT Facebook page, YouTube channel and UAHT.edu.

The committee’s goal is to make a recommendation to UA System President Donald Bobbitt on April 23.