OU’s Board of Regents will hold its November meeting on Wednesday, with agenda items including the adoption of the Chicago Statement, approval of the OU School of Aviation Studies’ name change, the expansion of the aviation fleet and the ratification of funds for the first phase of OU’s First-Year Housing Masterplan, including the demolition of Adams Center.
OU President Joseph Harroz 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.
“Controversies around viewpoint differences will always be part of a university setting," The agenda reads. "Indeed, they grow out of the diversity of thought and background that we celebrate at the University of Oklahoma and out of our common interest in discovery and truth."
Also in the agenda was a recommendation to approve changing the name of the OU School of Aviation Studies to the School of Aviation and expand the school’s aviation fleet.
Harroz recommended in the agenda that the regents approve $12 million to go toward the purchase of 25 airplanes for expansion and replacement of the school’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 agenda also outlined Harroz’s recommendation to ratify 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 through the purchasing of 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 meeting agenda also announced that Mike Stice, dean of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, will no longer be dean, pending regents approval. The agenda detailed the deletion of the title along with the Lester A. Day Family Chair title. His position will be changed from a 12-month administrator to a nine-month faculty member, according to the agenda. Stice has been dean of the College of Earth and Energy since 2015.
In the agenda, Harroz recommended the regents rank and approve a list of architectural firms for the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences Master Plan. Harroz also recommended the regents rank and approve a list of architectural firms for the new Infrastructure Technologies building project.
The agenda also outlined recommendations to approve a revised estimated total project budget of $47.9 million for the Softball Expansion and Improvements project. The Board of Regents initially approved a total budget of $42 million for the facility improvements in its June meeting.
The agenda also asks the regents to approve the renewal of medical premium rates for employees. According to the agenda, rates will increase by 3 percent from last year, if approved.
The agenda also detailed OU’s 2023-24 academic calendar and recent gifts to the OU Foundation, which accumulated to $16,775,000, according to the meeting agenda.
