Embattled for-profit college giant Education Management Corp. has brought in retired Allstate corporate communications head Joan Walker in its top communications post.
Walker, who retired Feb. 1 as executive VP, corporate relations, at Allstate, takes an executive VP title at Pittsburgh-based EMC, reporting to president and CEO Edward West.
Jacquelyn Muller is VP, corporate comm. and PR, at EMC, the second largest for-profit college corporation in the U.S. which runs 110 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, including Argosy Univ., Brown Mackie Colleges and The Art Institutes. Goldman Sachs owns a 41% stake in the company, which went public in 2009.
The company faces a multibillion-dollar civil fraud suit by the Justice Dept. and 11 states over federal student aid. Its profits and share price has fallen over the past year amid fallout from the suit and declining enrollment.
Walker was a partner at Bozell Sawyer Miller, leading its PR division, and held top corporate communications posts at Qwest Communications, Nynex and Pharmacia.
In a statement, West praised Walker's leadership in marketing and communications across top American brands. " "She is a trusted leader in the field and will bring her skills to deepening relationships in the communities that we serve and to communicating the tremendous potential of Education Management," he said.
West in April pledged to keep down its widely criticized tuition costs as part of a strategy to re-focus on "student success and achievement."
EMC in 2010 brought in DCI Group to organize a PR effort and opposition to an Obama administration push to limit federal student aid to for-profit college students who take on large debt for jobs that offer little hope of repaying it. [The new rule is locked in a court battle.]
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