The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents met today to approve changes to academic service fees, new programs and department structure that will enhance Oklahoma’s nursing workforce, interim leadership appointments, amendments to the housing policy for freshmen and other items.
During the meeting, the Regents approved changes that streamline academic service fees for students. Under the new tuition and fee simplification initiative, in the 2022-2023 academic year, the university will eliminate approximately 650 academic service fees and realign certain existing fees, improving transparency regarding the use of fee monies collected and simplifying student bursar bills.
“The heart of our strategic plan is the student experience, and simplifying our fee structure creates clarity for our students and their families,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “These changes contribute to our overall efforts to make an OU education more attainable to more people, while also making it easier to understand how fee dollars are used.”
Also as part of the new initiative, the university will establish a $40 per-credit-hour increase to targeted STEM fields to fund the hiring of new faculty, undergraduate research opportunities and targeted capital investments to support research-intensive areas.
In his remarks, Harroz noted that while the increase will have an average annual cost impact to students of around $670 before discounts or scholarships, the university will continue to prioritize financial aid for students.
“In the last five years, need-based aid for OU students increased 40%, but we are committed to doing more,” Harroz said. “At OU, we have a plan to substantially increase the availability of need-based aid so that students who have the ability to succeed and excel also have the opportunity. It’s our top fundraising priority.”
The proposed changes to the academic service fees will now go before the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for final approval.
Also during the meeting, the board approved three new departments at the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing – the Department of Biobehavioral Health Science, the Department of Child and Family Health Sciences, and the Department of Population Health and Health Systems Science. These new departments will structure the college’s faculty by their areas of expertise, which will ultimately lead to clinically focused department clusters, more timely updating of curriculum and development of new programs, and enhanced research and service collaborations.
The approval of the new departments come on the heels of OU’s announcement to dramatically increase enrollment in the bachelor of science in nursing program, administered through the College of Nursing. Beginning this fall, the college will expand the size of its nursing class by accepting all qualified applicants, allowing more students the opportunity to pursue a nursing career and, in turn, building up the state’s nursing workforce at a time when nurses are greatly needed.
“One of our most important obligations is to fuel economic vitality for our state,” Harroz said. “By capitalizing on OU’s areas of academic strength – like nursing – we can provide a talent pipeline to strategically enhance our state’s workforce. This not only helps ensure our graduates have the best opportunities for job placement, it also strengthens Oklahoma’s future.”
The Regents also approved the appointment of three interim leaders on the Health Sciences Center campus: Gary Raskob as interim senior vice president and provost of the Health Sciences Center, Dale Bratzler as interim dean of the Hudson College of Public Health and Mary Beth Humphrey as the interim vice president of research at the Health Sciences Center.
Considered one of the world’s foremost experts on thrombosis and antithrombotic therapy, Raskob previously served as dean of the Hudson College of Public Health and is a Regents Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine. He has served as chair of the Oklahoma City-County Board of Health since 2017, helping lead the greater Oklahoma City community through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bratzler, who has served as OU’s chief COVID officer since June 2020, is a professor in both the Hudson College of Public Health and the OU College of Medicine. At local and national levels, he is recognized for his expertise in matters of public health, infectious disease prevention and health care quality improvement.
Humphrey joined the university 16 years ago in the College of Medicine, and today serves as chief of the rheumatology, immunology and allergy section. She is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of osteoimmunology and was named associate dean for research in the College of Medicine in 2019.
“Dr. Raskob, Dr. Bratzler and Dr. Humphrey are not only highly renowned experts in their fields, they have also rightfully earned widespread respect at OU for their trustworthy and visionary leadership,” Harroz said. “We are incredibly fortunate that these remarkable individuals are working to ensure our forward momentum continues while we embark on our search for these key leadership roles.”
In today’s meeting, the Regents approved the formation of a search committee for the senior vice president and provost for the Health Sciences Center.
The Board of Regents also approved changes to the housing policy for freshmen, which clarifies who is required to live in on-campus housing during their first year at OU. The new policy states that “all students, including transfer students, under the age of 21 who have earned fewer than 24 credit hours from an accredited institution between their high school graduation date and the first day of classes must live in freshman-designated university housing during their first year at OU.”
The board is set to next meet in May.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information visit www.ou.edu.
