NORMAN – Storm-hardened shelters for Couch and Walker Centers, the Cate Center #2 Renovation Project and the Native American Studies Program are among topics to be discussed by the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents at its regular meeting Tuesday, Dec. 1, in Norman.

The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Scholars Room of Oklahoma Memorial Union with items submitted by Cameron University, followed by Rogers State University and OU.

The board will discuss the Storm-Hardened Shelters Projects 1 and 2. As part of the comprehensive Campus Master Plan of Capital Improvements Projects for the Norman Campus, multiple shelters are being constructed to provide storm refuge for residents of the university’s student housing facilities. Project 1, encompassing three above-ground shelters for residents of apartments at Traditions Square-East, Traditions Square-West and Kraettli, has been completed. Project 2 will construct above-ground shelters adjacent to Couch Center and Walker Center.

In addition, the Regents will consider a recommendation related to the Cate Center #2 Renovation Project. This former residential facility will be renovated to house centrally scheduled classrooms, seminar rooms, reading rooms, faculty and staff offices, conference rooms, and other support spaces for the Department of English. The project will address life and safety code issues including accessibility, emergency egress, replacement of HVAC and plumbing systems, and addition of an elevator.

The board also will consider a proposal to approve elevating the status of the Native American Studies Program into the Department of Native American Studies. The request is motivated by the growth of Native American Studies as an autonomous academic unit in the College of Arts and Sciences. Native American Studies offers an undergraduate minor, B.A., M.A. and joint M.A./J.D. with the OU College of Law and has awarded over 200 degrees since its founding in 1994. Additionally, the program has four full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty members and is currently conducting a search for a fifth tenured professor. Furthermore, Native American Studies is soon to become the home of the four Native languages offered at OU. Elevating the unit from program to department speaks to the growth of the Native American Studies program as an academic unit and its continued importance to the University of Oklahoma as an area of excellence.

The next meeting of the OU Board of Regents is currently scheduled for Jan. 27 and 28 in Norman.