Charles Warnken, an associate professor in the University of Oklahoma’s Master of Regional and City Planning (MRCP) program, is leading a major national academic event in his role as the National Conference Committee Chair for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP).
The University of Oklahoma’s Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture hosted the inaugural Oklahoma Housing Supply Accelerator Coalition event on November 13, 2025, a day-long gathering dedicated to addressing the state’s growing housing challenges and exploring solutions to expand the supply of attainable homes.
At a recent American Planning Association (APA) and Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) data session during the 2025 ACSP Administrator’s Conference, Oklahoma was recognized as a national leader in planning education and professional engagement.
Regional and City Planning faculty John Harris and Charlie Warnken are part of an interdisciplinary team that was recently awarded a $599,000 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. With this funding, the OU team will support the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a climate action plan that will reduce emissions in communities across the state.
A small but dedicated group of OU faculty and students in the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture are living out one of the university’s highest aspirations in a very concrete way: to positively impact the state of Oklahoma and its communities through improvements to a main thoroughfare for one under-resourced city while offering students priceless experience in urban design and planning.
Student, faculty and staff safety has been a hot topic of discussion and is of the utmost importance to the University of Oklahoma and the Gibbs College of Architecture. To help address these concerns, we recently spoke with Gibbs College program directors to find out what adjustments being made to their programs to ensure student, faculty and staff safety, while supporting learning outcomes. Here, Director of Regional and City Planning Charles Warnken shares responses to some frequently asked questions.
OU has been working diligently to ensure that returning students, faculty and staff return to a campus that is safer and better prepared to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to increased cleaning schedules, adding new and more robust cleaning agents and disinfectants and updated mask policies, Gibbs College has been working to improve air quality and clean the exchanged air within Gould Hall and make changes to schedules and classes to better accommodate student learning.
