NEWS
Dear OU Community,
I am delighted to announce that Jeffrey Harp has been named our university ombudsperson, a valuable resource available to all OU faculty, staff, and students. Having spent the entirety of his career in a university setting, Jeffrey will draw upon more than three decades of experience in law enforcement and community relations to reinforce our efforts to make OU a welcoming place to learn, study, and work.
We are grateful to the members of our search committee for their participation in the national search process, which attracted 15 highly qualified applicants. The five members of the search committee – chaired by Ben Keppel, professor in the Department of History – included faculty and staff representatives.
As ombudsperson, Jeffrey is empowered by the Office of the President to function independently of all administrative and academic offices. His priority is to ensure OU community members across all three of our campuses have an impartial, confidential space to express concerns, seek guidance, and constructively resolve conflicts. Jeffrey will help individuals manage and resolve conflicts within the university community early, informally, and at the lowest level possible, often without the need to pursue formal proceedings. The role supplements, but does not replace, the university’s existing avenues for formal conflict resolution.
Beyond conflict mediation, Jeffrey will help the university identify trends or patterns affecting campus climate, and will make recommendations to leadership for how to best address and resolve systemic issues. More information about the Office of the Ombudsperson is available at ou.edu/ombuds.
Before his appointment as our new ombudsperson, Jeffrey most recently served over two decades as executive director of public safety at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he worked consistently to nurture collaborative relationships among campus stakeholders to prevent and resolve conflicts. The wide scope of his leadership included oversight of 50 full- and part-time staff across all areas of university public safety, including campus police, environmental health and safety, risk management, emergency management, and other areas. He was also a member of numerous campus teams and committees focused on safety and community well-being, including crisis response, behavioral assessment, and threat assessment teams, among others.
Prior to joining UCO, Jeffrey advanced through the ranks at the OU Police Department for 15 years – beginning when he was an undergraduate student as a student community service officer, and rising to the role of lieutenant. Throughout his career, he has remained active in various professional organizations, and recently completed his term as chair of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Chancellor’s Safety and Security Task Force Training Subcommittee.
Jeffrey is a two-time OU graduate, having earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1987 and a Master of Public Administration in 2002.
For decades, he has been dedicated to building bridges among campus constituents to achieve positive outcomes. These skills will make him an incredibly valuable resource for our employees and students, and his leadership and expertise will enhance our overall efforts to sustain a supportive and welcoming environment at OU.
Please join me in welcoming Jeffrey Harp to the OU Family and wishing him success in this role.
Live On, University,
Joseph Harroz, Jr.
President
