After more than 25 years of service to University of Arkansas - East Arkansas Community College (UA-EACC), Chancellor Cathie Cline, Ed.D., has announced her plans to retire on July 1, 2026.

Cline officially gave notice to Jay B. Silveria, president of the UA System, and the UA-EACC Board of Visitors last week, saying the timing of completing the institution's 2024 merger into the UA System and the unprecedented momentum the institution has coincides with a desire to spend more time with family and move into the next phase of life.

"UA-EACC is in a strong position to keep moving the needle in providing first-class service to this region and all of the people I love and admire," Cline said. "I do not know what life has in store for me next, but my respect for the people at UA-EACC and our community makes me confident that we will keep impacting lives and moving forward."

Silveria said UA-EACC is a model institution for the impact he feels community colleges should be making.

"Under Dr. Cline's leadership, UA-EACC has successfully completed a transition into the UA System family, and is set up for future success in all of the ways I envision what a high-quality two-year college should be doing. I appreciate all of the hard work, dedication, loyalty and unrelenting drive for success that Dr. Cline has shown in my time here in Arkansas and throughout her career. She will be greatly missed," he said.  "I've been so impressed by all of the colleges within the UA System and their dedication to building, partnering, and thinking of all the ways they can serve students, businesses and communities in Arkansas."

Silveria said because of the time alotted before Cline's retirement date, he envisions a national search to be completed and a successor named before June 30, 2026. More information about the search will be announced once plans are finalized.

Cline was named chancellor at what was then East Arkansas Community College in 2017, being promoted from Associate Vice President for General Studies.  She led the merger of EACC and Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute in 2018 under the theme of "Stronger Together."   She led the institution through regulatory approvals and its transition into the UA System in 2024.

"These two events have shaped the history of this institution more than any other and are absolute highpoints in my career," Cline said.

Last week, UA-EACC was one of four institions in the state to be named to USA TODAY's list of "America's Top 250 Vocational Schools," being one of only 117 in the country to receive a 5-star rating. UA-EACC has also received national recognition for being one of the best colleges to work for in the nation through the Great Colleges to Work For® program, a status granted to only 42 colleges each year.

"The effectiveness this institution has shown under Dr. Cline's leadership is second to none," said Alan Curtis, chair of the UA-EACC Board of Visitors. "She's been a staple in this community and region for many years and deeply cares about student success and the people she works with on a daily basis. We all hate to see her retire, but she's leaving a mark and a legacy on this institution that will be tough to match. I speak for all Board members past and present by saying UA-EACC is in the best shape it's been in and our service has been made very easy by the dedication and effectiveness she's shown throughout her career here."

"As a former two-year college chancellor, I have to say there aren't many leaders who possess a drive for success and have the ability to show results quite like Dr. Cline does," said Chris Thomason, the vice president for strategic and community college partnerships for the UA System who helped direct UA-EACC's transition into the UA System. "The amount of respect that's shown to her by her colleagues on campus, in the UA System, and in all of higher education comes largely from the accomplishments she's achieved and her natural ability to lead by example and maintain a positive attitude no matter the challenge."

Cline is a recognized leader in community college and workforce education, currently serving a a second term on the National Economic Development and Workforce Commission of the American Association of Community Colleges and a third term on the Advisory Committee of Presidents for the Association of Community College Trustees.

She currently serves as Chair of the Arkansas Community Colleges executive council and is a member of the Board of Examiners (Level III) for the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce's Governor's Quality Award.  In 2023, Cline was elected to the ARE-ON board of directors, a statewide technology service organization that is provides technical expertise, cloud connections, and cost-effective network services to institutions of higher education throughout the state.

UA-EACC is known as a leader in providing high-demand career training to high school students. In 2021, UA-EACC received an Innovation Award from the Arkansas Community Development Society for the first ever CDL program for high school students. The college was one of first to offer high school LPN and EMT basic programs.

UA-EACC recently launched an innovative partnership with ARcare to address the rural nursing shortage in Arkansas. In 2022, the college began an innovative mobile CDL training program that travels directly to employers and communities. UA-EACC offers a "Hometown Heroes" scholarship, developed by Cline, that waives tuition for law enforcement employees, corrections employees, and fire fighters in the fields of EMT Basic, Criminal Justice, Social Work, and foreign language.

Accreditors have praised UA-EACC for its student-centric culture, noting that its "unparalleled commitment to students is one of the distinguishing features of the College and sets it apart from other institutions." In 2024, UA-EACC received the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund (ASPSF) Outstanding School Partner Award.

Cline and her sister, Susan Long Castelli, began the UA-EACC Student Emergency Fund in 2019 in honor of their father, Fletcher Long, which provides emergency assistance to students in crisis. They continue to contribute to the fund's growth through monthly and annual donations.

Since joining the UA System in November 2024, UA-EACC has continued to innovate. An on-campus bachelor's degree program in education began this fall through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The first-ever Eastern Arkansas Regional Business and Industry Regional Summit was held on the UA-EACC campus this summer in partnership with PCCUA and the ADTEC colleges.

Cline is a previous member of the Executive Council of Presidents for the Arkansas Division of Higher Education and served on the Strategic Planning Committee for the ADHE Master Plan Align 2026, workforce education goals for the state.  Cline received the EACC Outstanding Faculty Award in 2009.

Prior to joining UA-EACC, Cline worked as a journalist, winning five Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Association awards. She also worked in community and economic development, serving as part of the team that assisted with the start-up of the Forrest City Federal Corrections Institution and Boar's Head manufacturing. She served as a researcher and writer for the book From His Promise: A History of ALSAC and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Community focused, Cline has served on the Board of Forrest City Medical Center since 2018, is a past president of the Forrest City Rotary Club, a past member of the Kiwanis Club, and maintains active membership in local, regional, and state chambers of commerce.

A native Arkansan, Cline has been married for 35 years to local attorney Alan Cline. They have two adult children, Molly Cline Hardtner and McCulloch Cline.  She earned a Doctor of Education degree in Higher Education with an emphasis in Community College Leadership from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Arkansas State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. 

"Leading this institution for the last 8 years has been the joy of my life. The challenges and changes that we have come through together make our employees, students, and community unusually outstanding. I can think of no other group of people in the history of higher education in Arkansas who has succeeded so well through so much," Cline said. "The bottom line is that this institution and its people meet challenges and changes head on and evolve into something better every time."

The University of Arkansas-East Arkansas Community College offers affordable, career-ready and transfer-ready programs. With a variety of certificate programs, technical degrees, non-credit programs, and more, UA-EACC is committed to student and community success.