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OSU/A&M Board of Regents plans special meeting on Dec. 4 in Stillwater
Regents expect to name new President for OSU System faculty, student and staff forum planned
 
OKLAHOMA CITY; NOVEMBER 29, 2007 -- The OSU/A&M Board of Regents announced plans today to hold a special meeting on the campus of Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater on December 4, 2007.   The Regents office has called the special meeting to address the OSU Presidential Search, according to Doug Wilson, Executive Secretary for the OSU/A&M Board of Regents.  The Regents will meet at 11:00 a.m. in ConocoPhillips Alumni Center on campus.

Regents expect to consider a new President of OSU at the special meeting.  The new President will lead the State’s Land Grant University and the nearly 33,000-student OSU System consisting of multiple campuses including nationally ranked medical and veterinary schools.

A 33-member Presidential Search Committee which included representatives from the broad and diverse constituencies of OSU and the System was formed by the Regents in April of this year.   The committee, assisted by national presidential search consultant Bill Funk with R. William Funk & Associates, developed a position description statement outlining the qualities and capabilities desired in the next person to lead OSU and the System.  

The committee said it wanted a president who would share the values of the land-grant university and could lead the State’s University and the OSU System to greater national prominence in research, undergraduate and graduate programs.   In addition, the committee also said it wanted a demonstrated leader with the insights and initiative to inspire broad support for OSU plans and programs among a number of constituencies important to OSU and the System’s future. 

This summer a national advertising initiative launched by the Regents seeking applicants for the position generated broad interest resulting in a field of candidates being selected by the committee for serious consideration.   The list was further narrowed after an extensive interview and evaluation period.

In October the OSU Presidential Search Committee forwarded a recommendation to the Regents.   Regent Doug Burns, who chaired the Presidential Search Committee, briefed the nine-member Board of Regents on the status of the search process in October.

“The national search was comprehensive and the members of the OSU Presidential Search Committee did an excellent job.  They evaluated a number of impressive candidates from across the country who expressed interest in leading OSU,” said Lou Watkins, Chair of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents. “After nearly nine months of sustained work, the committee has forwarded us a recommendation for consideration.”

The Regents are expected to consider the selection of former OSU/A&M Regent V. Burns Hargis as the next President of OSU and the System.  Hargis, a graduate of OSU who earned his Juris Doctorate from the University Oklahoma and is one of the state’s leading business and civic leaders, resigned from the Board of Regents in July so he could fully explore the OSU Presidency opportunity.

The Regents also announced that an open forum has been planned for Tuesday morning with the faculty, students and staff.   The forum will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be held in The Theater located in the Student Union.

“We will allow the Board to take the appropriate action at the December 4 meeting before offering more extensive comments about the selection of a new President as well as addressing the plans going forward,” Watkins said.  “We are, however, quite pleased with where we are in the process, and we are indeed confident OSU will continue to advance its position as one of our nation’s premier land-grant universities as we move forward.”

The OSU/A&M Board of Regents is the governing board for Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater and the OSU System including the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences in Stillwater, OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, OSU-Tulsa, OSU-Oklahoma City, OSU-Okmulgee, the Cooperative Extension Service, the Agricultural Experiment Station as well as Langston University in Langston; Connors State College in Warner; Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami.

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