A Message from Dr. Jim Sluss

Dear Colleagues,

It is a great honor for me to be selected to serve you as the acting President of OU-Tulsa beginning in August. I am deeply grateful to President Schumann for his enlightened leadership and guidance, and I will do my best to live up to his high standards of excellence and compassion. Soon, I will share plans of how we will properly express our thanks to him for his service and dedication.  

I am truly appreciative of the trust and confidence President Harroz has placed in me to serve OU during this time of transition. I am very excited and humbled to lead the campus community into this next chapter of our shared endeavor to make OU-Tulsa a beacon of academic excellence in northeastern Oklahoma. Please be assured that I will always act out of what I believe are the best interests of OU-Tulsa as I work with President Harroz to chart a new strategic path into the future. As summer progresses, I will provide updates on the strategic planning process we intend to follow. I have always been proud of our spirit of community engagement, and I think it is vital to our future that we maintain it, now more than ever. I share your strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion that contributes so profoundly to our distinct culture as being a place of belonging.  

I am ready for a return to a pre-pandemic normalcy this fall and looking forward to seeing everyone beginning the week of August 2, followed by our students on August 23. We have some fun activities and giveaways planned for faculty and staff during Welcome Back Week, so be on the lookout for more details to follow.

The higher education landscape is changing in Tulsa and OU-Tulsa needs to stay positioned to grow in areas that address regional and national trends, foremost producing graduates with the knowledge and skills that align with the needs of our stakeholders. We must emphasize and invest in areas of research excellence, while looking for new opportunities to expand, engaging in scholarly and creative activity that advances knowledge and supports our regional partners as they seek to innovate. I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts and ambitions for OU-Tulsa with you in the coming weeks.

To the greatest extent possible, I plan to continue my open-door policy and welcome you to stop by and visit whenever you are in the vicinity of my office. I am grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

James (Jim) J. Sluss, Jr., Ph.D.