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UA System board votes against University of Phoenix affiliation deal

At a special meeting on Monday, UA trustees voted 5-4 against a resolution supporting the deal, with one trustee, Kelly Eichler, abstaining.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas System board of trustees on Monday voted against moving forward with a license agreement with the University of Phoenix, but that doesn't mean the deal is dead.

At the special meeting, trustees voted 5-4 against a resolution supporting the deal, with one trustee, Kelly Eichler, abstaining. But the statement of support isn’t a requirement for the deal, because the UA System isn’t acquiring the University of Phoenix. A nonprofit called Transformative Education Services Inc., of TES, which the UA System created in August, would acquire the for-profit university.

System President Donald Bobbitt previously explained that he has the authority to contract on behalf of the UA System. “But this particular case, I felt, and others felt that the board be in on this particular decision,” he said in a board meeting last week.

"There were two lengthy and informative public discussions on the matter and reinforcement expressed by the Board that these are the types of conversations that we need to be having," Nate Hinkel, the UA System's communications director, said in an email. "Dr. Bobbitt has previously said it would be difficult to move forward without support from the Board for this project. That statement remains true, and he is certainly disappointed in the outcome of the meeting."

To read more on the University of Phoenix deal, our content partner Arkansas Business has the full article here.

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