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I got word of this yesterday from a friend in the publishing business. He naturally was concerned whether the change could be read as any clue to a change in status of the press, which survived a UA administration effort to shut it down 15 years ago.

I couldn't reach Malley, but Bieker responded this morning to my note.

Doug Smith wrote an article for the Times last year that indicated the press was safe but that its fans remained watchful. It was then receiving a subsidy of about $250,000 a year from the University. (Less than many a football coach or many administrators at Fayeteville receive in a year.) Doug wrote:

The present chancellor at Fayetteville, David Gearhart, says "We think the press serves a very important purpose for the university, the state and the nation. We publish books from all over the country. ... We hope some day they'll be able to pay their own way. But we're not overly concerned about it. It's not a heavy cost to the university."

Few if any university presses ever break even on their operations. Part of their job is to publish worthy books that would go unpublished otherwise. Most university-press books are not bestsellers.

Link:
Change in leadership at University of Arkansas Press