A USAO Regents Meeting will take place tomorrow, September 10, at 1 p.m. in the Regents Room to discuss new policies that resulted in a “No Confidence” vote by the USAO Faculty Association last week.
According to USAO Professor Zach Simpson, an educator of Philosophy and Religious Studies at USAO for over 17 years, “No Confidence” means the Faculty Association feels there has been a breakdown in shared governance between themselves and the administration. This vote declares that faculty feel as if decisions are being made without them and that they do not have a say in those decisions.
The USAO Faculty Association made the vote in response to policies that will be voted upon tomorrow. One such was a proposed policy that professors teaching classes with fewer than 10 students will require approval from Makenna Garrison, the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA).
Mason Alldredge, a senior at USAO, spoke on how he feels as a student about the current situation and what he would like to see.
“What could alleviate the situation is for the vote to be tabled temporarily and returned at a later date. That would easily make the situation worlds better than it currently is.” Alldredge said. “It’s my personal opinion that if this policy passes, that I’m really frightened at the public response that would ensue.”
Simpson also spoke on the potential for these policies. He believes the university being liberal arts focused is its foundation, as the focus on a broad range of degrees makes USAO what it is.
“Getting rid of small classes alone would probably eliminate or otherwise wreck at least seven or eight majors on campus. These majors, I would argue, are core to our identity: Art, Music, Theatre, Physics, Chemistry, Math, English, Sociology, Teacher Ed, Speech Pathology. Those all rely on classes less than 10 and that policy alone would probably ruin those majors,” Simpson said.
Dr. Jeanette Loutsch, Giles Family Endowed Professor of Biology and President of the Faculty Association, also appreciates USAO’s foundation as a liberal arts school.
“I have heard stories already of freshmen who don’t know what’s happening or understand what’s happening talking about ‘where do you think I should go to school to have this experience somewhere else in January?’ And the sad, scary thing is there is nowhere else. Not in Oklahoma. Not at the cost of what this university costs students,” Loutsch said.
USAO President Kayla Hale will be presenting a report to the Board of Regents and all guests attending tomorrow’s meeting. President Hale deferred comment to the report she plans to give.
Students may attend the meeting. However, no one in attendance- guest, student, faculty, etc.- may speak unless they are already on the agenda, or the Regents select them to speak. The agenda for tomorrow’s meeting can be found here.
This is a developing story. More details will follow.
Whitley Brown is a fourth-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
