![]() He said the University of Arkansas System has the chance to not repeat that mistake. ![]() ![]() Trustee Kelly Eichler abstained.ĭuring the brief discussion prior to Monday’s vote, Fryar attempted to equate the Phoenix deal with the move 50 years ago that saw Fred Smith move FedEx to Memphis because Little Rock would not extend its runway. Voting for the resolution were Trustees Ted Dickey, Fryar, Nate Todd and Jeremy Wilson. Voting against the resolution were Board Chair Morril Harriman, and Trustees Tommy Boyer, Steve Cox, Kevin Crass, and Sheffield Nelson. The one-page resolution included a note that “TES is actively negotiating a potential acquisition of the University of Phoenix (UoP) with the intent to begin a mutually beneficial collaboration with the UA System as TES transitions UoP to nonprofit status ”Īfter more than 30 minutes of discussion, which followed almost three hours of discussion on April 19, the 10-member UA System Board voted 5-4, with one abstention, against supporting the resolution. The UA System, of which the flagship campus is the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, enrolls more than 70,000 students, employs over 28,000 and has a total budget of over $4 billion.Īccording to UA System attorneys, Bobbitt has the authority to pursue the deal with TES even without UA System Board approval. UA System President Donald Bobbitt has negotiated behind the scenes for at least two years to pursue the deal that would affiliate the system with the UofP, which is primarily an online for-profit university with more than 83,000 students. The three TES board members are UA System Trustee Ed Fryar, former Trustee Ben Hyneman, and Gina Terry, former chief financial officer of the UA System. TES has UA System representation, but most of its officers are independent. Arkansas law does not allow the UA System to directly acquire the UofP, according to Patrick Hollingsworth, UA System interim general counsel. Transformative Education Systems (TES), an organization loosely but not legally affiliated with the UA System, was incorporated to raise the financing to acquire the UofP and enter into licensing and affiliation agreements with the UA System. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with changes and additions throughout.Ī vote held Monday (April 24) that one University of Arkansas System Board Trustee said was nothing more than an “advisory vote,” went against a resolution supporting a deal that would indirectly connect the University of Arkansas System with the University of Phoenix (UofP).
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