Conway College Board member’s query reveals Collum is just superintendent getting paid to work for CJI

Conway College District Superintendent Jeff Collum is scheduled to show one other coaching session at his second job — this one on a college day. Collum will train the category later this month  in Beebe.

Whereas Collum’s work on college security is laudable, he’s not doing it at no cost. He will get paid $1,000 per course along with journey bills, even when the occasion takes place on a Conway college day.

That pay is along with his superintendent wage of $241,285, a $1,000 month-to-month automobile allowance and an annual $15,000 stipend by the district. His contract permits for out of doors work as a advisor.

The April 30 workshop on the Wilbur D. Mills Training Service Cooperative is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in line with an e-mail despatched to Collum by Keith E. Graham, program coordinator for the Arkansas Heart for College Security, part of the College of Arkansas System’s Prison Justice Institute.

Collum said in March that any of his consulting work “is finished both outdoors of faculty time or scheduled at a time that least conflicts with any superintendent duties for the district.” His college contract, accepted Jan. 9, permits for some outdoors work so long as it does “not intervene in a cloth and substantial method” along with his obligations as superintendent.

A minimum of one board member has been in communication just lately with the institute about Collum’s work.

In a sequence of emails between board member Jason Sandefer and Carol Waddle, the institute’s affiliate director for administrative providers, Sandefer mentioned he was making an attempt to “higher perceive the connection between superintendents and consulting.”

“I’ve talked to Dr. Collum at size about this,” Sandefer wrote on April 8.

“And to be clear,  I haven’t discovered something inherently flawed with Dr. Collum’s setup.  I wish to dig deeper after which current my findings to the neighborhood in order that they have one other aspect to the story. For probably the most half, the neighborhood solely will get Debra’s side- and it’s ALWAYS adverse. In fact that’s not truthful to Dr. Collum or our district.”

As a result of Sandefer didn’t give Debra’s surname, I can solely assume he was referring to me as I’ve written about Collum’s advisor work. I just lately emailed all seven Conway board members with data I had obtained from the institute and informed them their feedback on Collum’s consulting job had been welcome. None responded.

In his e-mail, Sandefer requested Waddle if the institute has any consulting preparations with different superintendents. On April 9, Waddle responded, “I spoke with the coordinator of our Arkansas Heart for College Security program and was informed that we solely have one different superintendent who teaches for us.”

In response to a different query from Sandefer in regards to the different superintendent, Waddle mentioned, “I can inform you that she doesn’t settle for fee. We cowl her resort bills solely.”

Collum suggested board members by e-mail final month of an Arkansas Occasions request beneath the Arkansas Freedom of Data Act, prompting him to say he might talk about the matter with them that evening, when a board assembly was scheduled. The board had an government, or closed, session that evening however took no motion.

The board went into government session once more April 9 however returned to the general public assembly to say it had taken no motion. Government classes coping with personnel are closed, so the matters of debate are usually not identified until public motion follows or a board member decides to speak overtly.

As beforehand reported, Collum and Jason Black, Conway College District’s deputy superintendent, did a coaching session in Hope on Thursday, Dec. 7, from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., in line with the institute. Collum did a Friday, June 16, workshop from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Rogers. That one would have been throughout college students’ summer time break. On Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, Collum did a coaching session at Jonesboro Excessive College.

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