OU’s Board of Regents adopted the Chicago Statement, approved the OU School of Aviation’s name change and expanded its aviation fleet and ratified the funds for the first phase of OU’s First-Year Housing Masterplan, which includes the demolition of Adams Center during its November meeting Wednesday.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. asked the Board of Regents to officially adopt the Chicago Statement, which Harroz announced in October the university would do pending regents’ approval.
The Chicago Statement is a set of principles that emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression on college campuses. Harroz made the request after the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Free Speech and Inquiry Committee recommended the university adopt the statement, according to the meeting agenda. The statement was developed in 2014 and has been adopted by more than 80 universities.
“We know that free speech and corollary academic freedom are absolutely essential to the discovery of, the inquiry of and the search for truth, and that has to be unimpeded,” Harroz said during the meeting.
The regents approved changing the OU School of Aviation Studies’ name to OU School of Aviation.
The regents also approved Harroz's recommendation of $12 million to go toward the purchase of 25 airplanes for the expansion and replacement of the OU School of Aviation’s fleet. OU announced its plans to replace the school’s aircraft fleet earlier this month, originally saying the plan would last three years and cost around $10 million.
The regents also approved the ratification of the interim $2.5 million for the demolition of Adams Center and associated site work for the first phase of OU’s First-Year Housing Master Plan.
Harroz announced that Adams Tower would be demolished in summer 2023 at the September Board of Regents meeting. Harroz also announced the Freshman Housing Masterplan at the March regents meeting. The plan details demolishing and replacing OU’s Adams, Walker and Couch towers with new living options.
Adams Tower had 908 freshmen beds, which were replaced by purchasing the Cross Village Complex, which offers 1,200 beds. Couch has 1,396 available beds and Walker has 1,404. Walker will be the next dormitory scheduled for demolition and Couch will follow, Harroz said in the March meeting.
The regents approved deleting Mike Stice’s title, which is dean of Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. His position, which he has held since 2015, will be changed from a 12-month administrator to a nine-month faculty member, according to the meeting agenda. The regents also approved deleting the Lester A. Day Family Chair title.
Harroz said Stice chose to step down from the dean position. In the interim, Stice will be replaced by John Antonio, professor and senior associate vice president for research and partnerships at OU.
The regents also approved Harroz’s recommendation to rank and approve a list of architectural firms for the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences Master Plan. They also approved a list of architectural firms for the new Infrastructure Technologies building project.
The regents also approved the renewal of medical premium rates for employees. According to the agenda, rates will increase by 3 percent from last year.
During the meeting, OU Regent Bob Ross said the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing’s enrollment increased by 4.6 percent compared to last year.
In March, Harroz announced that the school will double the size of its enrollment class for its bachelor’s program in the fall semester to help combat the current healthcare worker shortage in Oklahoma.
“We were able to realize that our job is to generate those nurses. and rather than just incrementally increasing our number of nurses and nurse strategic plan, we said our job is to make sure we provide the health care workforce for Oklahoma,” Harroz said.
