The OU Board of Regents will consider the upcoming academic year calendar, athletics contracts and alcohol abuse and drug use policy revisions at its Wednesday meeting.
2027-2028 academic calendar
The university will present the 2027-2028 academic calendar to the board, which details a one-week shift forward compared to the previous calendar.
Fall semester classes will begin on Aug. 16, 2027 and the semester will conclude on Dec. 10, 2027. Winter break will last from Dec. 10, 2027 to Jan. 18, 2028.
The spring semester will begin on Jan. 18, 2028 and the semester will conclude on May 12, 2028.
This academic calendar format is aligned with when Oklahoma State University and the University of Central Oklahoma begin classes and breaks.
This year, OSU and UCO both began classes on Aug. 17, while OU began classes a week later on Aug. 24. Last fall, an overlap occurred at OU when commencement was scheduled for the same weekend as the first home games of the College Football Playoffs, which OU played in.
Harold Hamm donation
The board will consider officially renaming the academic health campus to the “Harold Hamm Health Campus” after Hamm made a $150 million donation to the university, the single largest gift in university history.
Of the $150 million, $100 million will be allocated to the renamed Health Campus and $50 million will go toward research at the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
According to the agenda, more specifically, the donation will work to support biomedical research, strengthen faculty recruitment and retention, improve research infrastructure and expand educational opportunities for future healthcare professionals.
The agenda states the OU Naming Committee met in October and approved the recommendation to the board. The agenda states the name will remain in effect in perpetuity.
Athletics contract changes
The OU Board of Regents will consider athletics contract appointments, changes and terminations.
The board will consider the hiring of Latricia Trammel as associate head coach of OU women’s basketball. Trammell spent nearly a decade in the WNBA in various roles, including as head coach of the Dallas Wings for two seasons, according to SoonerSports.
The board will also review contracts for the following:
• Nicholas Crowell, head men’s tennis coach. Crowell’s heading into his eleventh season as head coach and has led OU to 10 NCAA tournament berths.
• Skip Johnson, head baseball coach. Johnson, entering his tenth season, coached the Sooners to a NCAA national title in 2026.
• KJ Kindler, head women’s basketball coach. OU women’s gymnastics has seen eight national championships under Kindler’s leadership.
The board will review the termination of former OU football offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. Arbuckle was fired Monday after the Sooners lost to South Carolina Saturday.
The board will also review the resignation of Toby Baldwin, associate athletics director. Baldwin spent over 17 years at OU, serving over 13 of those as director of compliance and then several years as the executive associate director of athletics for name, image and likeness, or NIL, and operational advancement, according to his LinkedIn.
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Legacy Capital Financing Act
The board will consider memorandums of understanding with the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Corporation to receive funding authorized by the Legacy Capital Financing Act for construction and other projects related to residence hall facilities and the Price College of Business.
During its 2026 legislative session, the Oklahoma Legislature authorized the corporation to distribute $40 million in Legacy Capital Financing Act funds to OU to construct, refurbish or expand residence hall facilities and classroom building facilities, according to the agenda.
The board will consider splitting the $40 million equally between projects related to residence halls and Price.
The university must return the money to the Legacy Capital Financing Fund annually over a 20-year period unless the Legislature suspends or restructures the university’s repayments, the agenda states. Each annual repayment shall be equal to 1/20 of the amount distributed to the university, or $2 million a year.
Consolidating vice presidents
The board will consider a policy change that would effectively consolidate the positions of two vice presidents into one.
According to the agenda, the revisions would consolidate the duties previously assigned to two vice presidents for administrative affairs under a single vice president for administration and finance. The agenda states the revision reflects a change in the governance structure at the administration and finance level.
Alcohol abuse, drug use policy revisions
The board will consider revisions to the regents’ Prevention of Alcohol Abuse and Drug Use On Campus and In the Workplace policy.
The proposed revision is prompted by House Bill 3127, which went into effect Monday, and establishes zero-tolerance drug and alcohol standards for employees in “safety-sensitive positions,” according to the agenda.
The revision would replace the existing provision with language that expressly establishes the zero-tolerance standard, the agenda states, and clarifies that violations may result in disciplinary action, including termination.
Campus Master Plan addition
The board will consider ratifying the interim approval of a contract for additional funds for the development of a comprehensive Campus Master Plan. The amount would not exceed $800,000 or a total of $1.8 million to design firm Ayers Saint Gross, according to the agenda.
The plan will guide campus development, investment and decision-making over the coming decades, the agenda states, and will assess existing facility conditions, future growth and campus experience.
OU is seeking to expand the original project in two ways: through a Housing and Development Scenarios Study and a Campus Signage & Wayfinding Study.
While discussing campus growth in an exclusive interview with OU Daily in September, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said the university will have the full plan in the next year.
“(We) engaged a group called Ayers Saint Gross, and they're national experts with universities of our size and larger, around ‘How do you plan out the design of, and the flow of a campus to make sure it works the way you want it?’” Harroz said in September.
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