Changes Roil Oklahoma Liberal Arts College

Faculty and students are sounding the alarm about recent changes at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma—changes many believe undermine its mission as a public liberal arts college.

The USAO Board of Regents voted last week to stop offering tenure to incoming faculty members, a change President Kayla Hale said aligned with an executive order from Republican Governor Kevin Stitt to phase out the practice.

But at a Monday town hall meeting covered by KOSU, Hale said tenure could return if Stitt’s successor does not renew the executive order when the governor leaves office early next year. She also noted that politics were behind the changes across the university.

“Some of the things that are really driving the sort of intrusion into our university, they are very politically driven,” Hale told town hall attendees. “Those politicians, or those people, who are driving these conversations are the ones that hold the purse strings to our university.”

Regents also approved a policy change on low-enrollment courses. Beginning next spring, USAO classes with fewer than 10 students will require administrative approval. If approved, those courses will not be counted in a professor’s regular teaching load and faculty members will instead be paid an adjunct rate, which is $225 per student per semester.

The USAO Faculty Association passed a vote of no confidence in Hale and Vice President of Academic Affairs Makenna Garrison earlier this month, accusing them of failing to abide by shared governance processes and undermining academic freedom and institutional stability.

Students also walked out of classes last week to protest the policy changes.