CHARLESTON, W.Va. — She may now have two titles, but Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker sees her singular mission as one to unify higher education in West Virginia.
“My hope is to really bring some stability to both systems and to make some clarity about where we need to go going forward,” Tucker said of her dual roles as chancellor for the West Virginia Community and Technical College System and interim chancellor for the Higher Education Policy Commission.
Tucker has replaced Carolyn Long, the former interim HEPC chancellor, who returned to her previous role as president of West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley this week.
Long took the HEPC position last July after being appointed despite criticisms of her close ties to WVU.
With the recent selection of Tucker, members of the Higher Education Policy Commission have also agreed to continue the suspension of the search for a permanent chancellor pending the finalization of work from the Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education.
It was not clear when the Blue Ribbon Commission, which last met in full in December, would meet again.
“There are still conversations happening about the Blue Ribbon Commission and there are conversations that are happening about performance funding and everything else,” Tucker said of pending higher education issues.
“We’re going to need to spend some time in the next few months really talking to the colleges and figuring out what’s going on and whether or not there are changes that need to be made and identifying what those changes are and I’m working hand in hand with the Legislature to do that.”
Tucker, who has degrees from Harvard University and the University of Michigan, has served as chancellor for the West Virginia Community and Technical College System since October 2015.
Tucker estimated she’d be HEPC’s interim chancellor at the same time through the end of 2019 at least and, possibly, into the 2020 Regular Legislative Session which begins in January.
In the coming months, “The biggest challenge will be to get to know all of the institutions as well as I know the community colleges,” Tucker said.
She was already familiar with the structure of HEPC since all but a handful of employees work for both HEPC and CTCS.
In January 2012, she started with both entities as director of planning and research.
“We’re higher education. We have a shared staffed and we do joint initiatives, so I think that I’ll be able to streamline some of that and make sure that we’re all staying on the same page,” said Tucker.
West Virginia has nine public community and technical colleges and eleven public four-year institutions.
“I need to be able to speak with one voice about how important all of higher education is and the role that each of the institutions uniquely plays in the State of West Virginia,” she said.
“I think that we can do a lot more collaboratively and together than we can individually and so I look forward to trying to bring us all together.”
HEPC has not had a permanent chancellor since Dr. Paul Hill, who had held the position since June 2012, announced his retirement in March 2018. He was moved to a consultant position when Long took over later in the year.