CAC names Elliott next president

The governing board of Central Arizona College voted to offer Jacquelyn Elliott the job of college president during a special meeting Tuesday.

The board held two executive sessions on the matter.

Elliott was the only finalist for the post. Doris Helmich is retiring June 30 after serving as the CAC president four years.

During its first closed session Tuesday, the board reviewed the public survey input received from the public forums throughout the county April 25-27. A vote was made to enter into contract negotiation with Elliott. During a second executive session, the board extended an employment offer and upon returning to the general meeting named Elliott as the next CAC president/CEO.

Elliott has more than 27 years of experience working in higher education, specifically in senior level administrative and leadership positions at the community college level. She has served as president of North Arkansas College (Northark) since 2011.

During her time at Northark the College’s reserves increased from $11 million to $16 million and Annual Foundation Contributions grew. Northark was named a “Great College to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2013.

Elliott is a Board of Trustees member for the Higher Learning Commission, co-chair of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education’s Master Plan Development Committee and member of the Governor’s Task Force for Redesign of Arkansas Higher Education Funding.