OU President David L. Boren announced at the OU Board of Regents
meeting Monday major growth in enrollment and faculty recruitment
at OU-Tulsa, as well as the the creation of the Early Childhood
Institute at OU-Tulsa.

Vice President for Public Affairs Catherine Bishop said both
announcements were of equal importance.

“I’d say they all impact the University of Oklahoma
because they all benefit our students,” she said.

Boren and Ken Levit, OU-Tulsa president, made the announcements
together during the presidents’ report to the regents, Bishop
said.

Since the opening of OU-Tulsa’s Schusterman Center in
1999, enrollment, faculty recruitment, fundraising and capital
expansion have seen growth, Boren said in a press release.

Bishop said the growth is important “because that means
we’re serving Tulsans and northeastern Oklahomans and their
educational needs.”

OU-Tulsa has seen a 60 percent increase in student enrollment
since 1999, and a 67 percent increase in resident faculty,
according to a press release.

There are also more than $70 million in capital expansion
projects planned for OU-Tulsa, including a new research and medical
clinic, an academic lecture and learning center, a new family
clinic at HIllcrest Hospital and a cancer center satellite clinic,
the press release stated.

“OU-Tulsa is and will continue to be a strong engine for
economic growth in northeastern Oklahoma,” Levit said in a
press release.

In addition to OU-Tulsa’s progression, Boren also
announced the creation of an Early Childhood Institute at
OU-Tulsa.

“Nothing is more important to the strength of our society
than providing opportunities for children in their earliest
years,” Boren said in a press release.

With the advent of the Institute, OU-Tulsa will offer a
bachelor’s degree completion program and a master’s
degree in early childhood education, according to a press
release.

“Our vision is that OU-Tulsa will become the premiere
institution in the country for interdisciplinary and comprehensive
approaches to address the educational needs of infants and young
children,” Levit said in a press release.

The early childhood development program will focus on teaching
and certifying those who will teach children from birth to age
5.

OU’s College of Education and Tulsa Community College have
developed an agreement providing a clear pathway for students from
their freshman year at TCC to the bacaulareate and master’s
degree in early childhood at OU-Tulsa, according to the press
release.

The OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center currently offers three
bachelor’s degree completion programs, 14 master’s
programs, a doctor of medicine degree, a doctor of pharmacy degree
and nine residency programs in medicine, according to the press
release.

Boren also announced two gifts to OU-Tulsa from local families,
which include a $1 million gift from the Lindsey and Diane Perkins
family for the creation of a lecture hall, as well as a $1 million
pledge from Herb Gussman and family for the establishment of a
Gussman Family Chair in Internal Medicine, which will focus on
translational research and medicine, the press release stated.

The Regents also passed all 16 proposed agenda items for OU,
Bishop said.

Eight of those items directly impact the Norman campus, and
include the purchase of furniture for the Michael F. Price College
of Business, construction Phase 1 of the Field House renovation and
improvements and the acceptance of the fiscal year 2004 external
audit and annual financial report for the Norman and Health
Sciences Center Campus.
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