Editor's note: This story was updated at 2:40 p.m. to reflect the proper spelling of Regent Rick Braught's name.
TULSA — The OU Board of Regents approved three new dean search committees, changes to employee health insurance plans and degree policy changes Friday morning.
Committee reports
Regent Rick Nagel said the academic, student affairs and research committee met in Norman to discuss goals for this fiscal year. He said he aims to monitor student success metrics including enrollment, graduation and research productivity.
Nagel pointed to OU’s fourth consecutive record-breaking first-year class, saying the size of the first-year class represents the “equation” OU must follow to help workforce shortages over time.
Regent Rick Braught gave the report from the administration and operations committee meeting, which met to discuss health care plans and medical insurance vendors. Braught said the committee received updates on the Lead On fundraising campaign, the information technologies centralization and the centralization of OU’s marketing and communications team.
Regent Bob Ross delivered updates from the health and clinical enterprise committee, which discusses key performance metrics for OU Health and new faculty hires for the Tulsa campus.
Braught also delivered the report for the strategic initiatives and partnership committee. Regent Natalie Shirley would typically deliver this report, though she was not in attendance due to family matters, according to Regent Anita Holloway.
Braught said this committee is new and discussed its mission at its September meeting. The committee aims to provide direction and oversight to make recommendations to the regents on matters pertaining to the organization, management, general operations and educational objectives of Cameron University, Rogers State University and the OU Polytechnic Institute, according to Braught.
Holloway gave the report for the finance audit and risk committee, which reviewed fourth-quarter numbers from all three universities. Holloway said the committee also talked about increases to enrollment, and the cash position of all universities is “strong.”
External audits of Cameron University, Rogers State University, the OU Norman campus and the OU Health Sciences Center are currently underway, according to Holloway. These are expected to be completed in October, and the regents will receive the final report then.
Cameron University
The OU Board of Regents has approved all items for Cameron University, including contracts and grants, faculty changes and the 2025-26 academic calendar.
Rogers State University
The OU Board of Regents has approved all items for Rogers State University, including changes to degree programs, updates to the academic policies and procedures manual and personnel appointments and changes.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.’s remarks
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. told the regents OU is expecting an “enrollment cliff” in 2025 and is one of his main focuses, along with making sure the university is meeting the needs of Oklahoma.
Harroz said COVID-19 put a spotlight on the need for health care workers in Oklahoma, emphasizing a need for OU to produce more nursing graduates. According to Harroz, OU graduated around 300 nursing students a year three years ago. Today, that number has doubled according to Harroz.
Harroz said the rising cost of health insurance is “regrettable” and OU is trying to limit that as much as it possibly could. According to Harroz, health insurance costs have increased 24 percent this year.
“We have to manage it in some way and be direct and honest with the employees about how we handle it,” Harroz said.
Harroz presented a video highlighting the achievements and goals of OU-Tulsa graduate student Breyona Greenlee.
Harroz invited several speakers to address the regents, the first being OU Health Sciences Center Provost Gary Raskob. Raskob said the incoming class enrollment increased by 15 percent, adding that enrollment has increased without decreasing the academic standard.
Raskob said the campus had a 20 percent increase in student counseling hours, aiming to be student-focused in its mission.
Raskob talked about the NCI designation of the Stephenson Cancer Center, a title given to centers that have met standards set by the National Cancer Institute for cancer prevention, clinical services or research. There are 72 NCI-designated centers in the U.S.
The Stephenson Cancer Center has expanded to Tulsa, with services beginning in June according to Raskob. The center’s permanent building will begin construction in 2026 and is set to open in 2027.
The second speaker was Vice President of OU-Tulsa Susan Bynum, who said Tulsa’s nursing program is the campus’ largest. Bynum said the Tulsa campus is in the process of creating a strategic plan that would complement OU’s Lead On, University strategic plan.
Bynum said Tulsa is working to get a dedicated transfer recruiter to increase transfer enrollment and a graduate recruiter on campus to make sure programs are matching industry standards.
Dr. James Herman, dean of OU-Tulsa School of Community Medicine, was the third speaker. The School of Community Medicine has 122 students, 177 residents and fellows over 12 programs and 192 faculty members, according to Herman.
About 50 percent of residents stay in Oklahoma, and 30 percent stay in the Tulsa area post-graduation, according to Herman.
Herman said he would match the medical students at OU-Tulsa with any other in the country in terms of “brain and heart.”
Teri Reed, director of the OU Polytechnic Institute, was the final speaker. She said the institute has four newly approved degrees that will be before regents in November. Reed briefed the regents on a series of milestones since the institute during its inaugural school year.
Reed said 65 students applied to the institute, with 25 being accepted. The average student age is 26.6 years, 44 percent are first-generation students and 92 percent are Oklahoma residents, according to Reed.
The institute will focus on growth and community involvement, forming industrial advisory boards and developing career services for students, Reed said.
Awards, honorary degrees
The regents approved all awards, contracts and grants listed in the agenda and honorary degrees to be awarded at OU's May 2025 commencement. According to the agenda, the regents and OU administration requested the names of the nominees and alternates to be kept confidential and were not included in the agenda until final arrangements are made.
Dean searches
The regents voted to approve three dean search committees: Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, Price College of Business and College of Professional and Continuing Studies.
A search committee for the next arts and sciences dean will be chaired by John Klier, dean of Gallogly College of Engineering. Former Dean David Wrobel left OU this summer to accept the same position at Stony Brook University in New York.
A search committee for the new dean of Price College will be chaired by John Antonio, dean of Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. Former Dean Corey Phelps left OU in July to take the same position at Penn State University.
The final search committee the board approved is for the College of Professional and Continuing Studies, set to be chaired by Stacy Reeder, dean of Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education. Former Dean Martha Banz stepped down in December 2022. Mark Morvant and Gregg Garn have both served as interim deans since then.
The regents also approved changes to the Honors College dean search committee. The committee, first approved by regents in January, was originally chaired by Graduate College Dean Randall Hewes. On Friday, the regents approved Hans Butzer, dean of Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, as chair.
Two other positions — the Honors College representative and the Student Government Association representative — also received new appointments on Friday. Candace Coker, director of finance and administration at the Honors College will serve as the college’s representative, and Wyatt Saunders, a sophomore computer engineering student, will be the SGA representative.
OU’s Honors College has been without a permanent dean since 2017, when David Ray left the role and Doug Gaffin became interim dean. Gaffin left his role in July 2020 and Rich Hamerla succeeded him as interim dean. In October 2023, Kelvin White took over from Hamerla, and in June, Michael Markham took over from Hamerla as interim dean.
New departments, program
The regents approved two new departments — the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Genetics and Genome Science — in the College of Medicine.
A new program, a doctorate of philosophy in cancer biology, was approved by the regents for the Graduate College at the Health Sciences Center.
The regents approved adjustments to admission requirements for two programs and modified the requirements of another program. The regents also approved a name change for the Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence to a Bachelor of Science in Applied Artificial Intelligence.
Degree revocation
The regents approved a new degree revocation policy outlining the procedures if a degree must be revoked to protect the integrity of OU’s academic standards. This authority lies with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and the OU Board of Regents, according to the policy.
The process of degree revocation includes an investigation, a hearing and then a written decision. The graduate may appeal the decision to the university president.
Policy revisions: fraud prevention, reporting and whistleblower
The regents approved revisions to the current fraud prevention, reporting and whistleblower policy in compliance with federal and state law. Changes include a provision that adds disciplinary action as a corrective action and adds an avenue for a referral to law enforcement.
Department of Engineering dissolving
The regents voted to dissolve the Department of Engineering from the Gallogly College of Engineering. According to the agenda, the department is a unit within the college and does not have an operating budget, or any faculty appointed to it and is no longer an active academic unit.
Employee health care
The regents approved significant changes to both the preferred provider organization plan, or PPO, and the high deductible health plan, or HDHP, available to OU employees. These changes include the introduction of two new health care vendors — The Standard, for life and disability coverage, and VSP, for vision. Cigna remains the medical insurance provider, according to the agenda. Current vendor Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma will manage dental coverage.
To “manage the significant increase to the cost of the University’s self-funded health plan” according to the agenda, OU will make “significant” changes that will increase copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and pharmacy out-of-pocket maximums."
On July 1, a merit-based staff salary increase went into effect, following approval from the regents in June. The performance review ratings correlate to the percentage pay increase staff received. Those with an “Exceptional” rating received a 4.5 percent pay increase, a “Highly Effective” rating received a 3.5 percent increase, and a “Successful and Effective” rating received a 2.5 percent increase.
Harroz acknowledged the effect these changes would have on employees, saying that about 9,100 employees our covered under OU’s health insurance plans. About 60% of those are under the “employee only” plan, according to Harroz.
"It's better to deal with it upfront and honestly than it is to try and just roll past it. It has a number of real impacts,” Harroz said.
Board of Regents Chair Eric Stevenson said Harroz and other members of OU’s administration are working to make sure that numbers are as low as possible for health insurance plans.
“They're still not the numbers that we want or that you want, but and realize that those are real impacts. That's not play money, that's real money,” Stevenson said.
Michael F. Price sculpture
The regents approved a sculpture honoring Michael F. Price, designed by OU alum and faculty member Sohail Shehada. Shehada teaches at the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts and has created several sculptures around campus. The project will be funded through college foundation funds.
Price died in March 2022 at 70 years old. He was one of OU’s most generous long-time donors and is the namesake of the Price College of Business.
Personnel changes
Julie Hoff, former dean of the College of Nursing at OU Health Sciences Center, left her role effective June 30, according to the agenda. Hoff joined OU in January 2020.
Katheleen Guzman, former dean of OU Law, received a sabbatical effective Aug. 16 through Dec. 31. After stepping down as dean at the end of the last academic year, Guzman will serve as a professor of law following her sabbatical.
The regents approved the salary for new Chief Information Officer Nishanth Rodrigues, totaling $330,000 a year. Rodrigues was announced as the new chief information officer in a press release sent to OU faculty and staff on Wednesday.
