The UNIVERSITY of OKLAHOMA HIGHER LEARNING COMMISSION SELF-STUDY REPORT 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 2 Chapter One - Mission and Integrity 6 Chapter Two - Preparing for the Future 28 Chapter Three - Student Learning and Effective Teaching 58 Chapter Four - Acquisition, Discovery and Application of Knowledge 86 Chapter Five - Engagement and Service 116 Response to Previous Challenges 140 Timeline 152 Committee Structure 153 HLC Self-Study Report Executive Summary Introduction university library managed to increase its holdings during the 1930s, experiencing a very slight increase in staff during Like a sturdy tree anchored by deep roots, the University this period. of Oklahoma continues to grow into its vision of forming leaders with a global view concerned for the common good Acutely aware of how cyclical economic contractions in a changing and uncertain world. This opportunity to adversely impacted OU’s mission in the past, President comprehensively evaluate the institution and collaborate David Boren and the University of Oklahoma continue with Consultant-Evaluators from the Higher Learning working diligently to ensure that OU has the public and Commission will provide us with greater clarity as we private resources necessary to continue to grow even when aggressively and creatively move forward, fulfilling our beset by economic drought. mission with integrity in an era of fewer financial resources. A 2009 Board of Regents’ resolution and a 2011 letter from The University of Oklahoma’s first president, David Ross President Boren to the university community summarize the Boyd, arrived in Norman in August of 1892. Hired by mail, progress made while also providing a bird’s eye view of the he had never seen the university. Upon arrival, he expected health of OU, demonstrating that OU’s roots reach deeply to find a small, established university campus. But, all he into Oklahoma’s hearty spirit, its trunk remains sturdy, and found was an open, flat prairie devoid of trees or buildings. its branches contain the flexibility to bend without breaking It is rumored that Boyd, not easily discouraged, looked as it continues to grow innovatively, moving forward to at the open field and remarked, “What possibilities!” The meet expected and unexpected challenges. In short order, university opened its doors that year with a mere four these two documents show that OU satisfies the HLC’s five faculty members and 119 students. By 2010, OU, which Criteria for Accreditation. has been accredited by the North Central Association since 1913, had grown to 1,162 full-time instructional faculty and 30,315 students, organized into 24 colleges across three campuses, offering 163 baccalaureate, 166 master’s, 108 doctoral, seven professional degree programs, and 26 graduate certificates. OU’s campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa today have wonderful outdoor enclaves with benches, fountains and foliage inviting people to sit, visit and even read together. Warm and inviting lounges await students and faculty within many of the university’s buildings. Aesthetically pleasing, these spaces intentionally extend learning beyond the classroom as genuine communities of learning organically develop. Like the droughts and high winds that continue to test the resilience of Oklahomans, tough economic circumstances have challenged the university over the years, at times severely stunting growth. During the Great Depression, for instance, the university’s revenue remained relatively flat, dipping slightly from $1.58 million in 1931-32 and $1.55 million in 1941-42. The budgetary pruning process resulted in the loss of many faculty members, including Alfred B. Thomas, a promising historian of the American Southwest who reluctantly left OU for a much better-paying job in 1937. Despite the Dust Bowl economic conditions, the University of Oklahoma Higher Learning Commission Self-Study 1 Executive Summary During President Boren’s first 15 years in office, the • OU’s Norman campus realized a goal set over 40 years university received over $1.6 billion in gifts, the donor base ago to rank in the top tier of Carnegie-scored research increased to almost 113,000, more than $1.5 billion was institutions. spent on construction, endowed faculty positions increased • OU’s 2010 freshman class broke many academic records more than five-fold to 544, the number of students receiving and for the first time ranked number one in the nation scholarships doubled as a result of a successful Campaign for among public universities in National Merit Scholars Scholarships, the campuses were beautified with dedicated enrolled in absolute numbers. space set aside to encourage community, and 20 major new programs were initiated (Board of Regents Minutes • Sarah Swenson became OU’s 28th Rhodes Scholar, two 31707-08, June 22-24, 2009). Despite the fact that OU OU students won Truman Scholarships, and another absorbed over $80 million in cuts in state appropriations student received a Goldwater Scholarship in math and and uncompensated increases in uncontrollable fixed costs science. since the beginning of this recent recession, the university continues to make great strides, as noted by President Boren in his June 2011 letter to the university community: ExhibitBudget ES.1 Trends Budget - TTrendsotal OU - Total OU State Appropriations Total Operating Budget $1,600,000,000 $1,400,000,000 $1,200,000,000 $1,000,000,000 $800,000,000 $600,000,000 $400,000,000 $200,000,000 $0 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 2 University of Oklahoma Higher Learning Commission Self-Study Exhibit ES.2 FY12 Total Operating Budget Revenue: Norman Campus (IncludesFY 12 T otalLaw Center)Operating Budget Revenue: Norman Campus (includes Law Center) Auxiliary/Agency Tuition & Fees State Appropriations Grants & Contracts Other E&G • OU’s debaters won the Henry Clay tournament and pruning throughout the university provided the flexibility have won national championships for three of the past to hold tuition increases to a minimum – “Oklahoma was five years; OU petroleum engineers won the national one of only two states in the nation” with no tuition increase Petro-Bowl championship; OU drama students in 2009 – and allowed for a modest faculty and staff pay swept the Kennedy Center Honors; and OU business increase for 2011 (Ibid.). Recognizing the dignity of all OU entrepreneurship and city planning teams won national employees, lowest-paid staff members “who are struggling to honors. keep up with increased costs for necessities like gasoline and food” received a minimum of a $1,000 pay increase (Ibid). • The Honors College organized over 30 informal book clubs. • The university launched the new College of International The Self-Study Process Studies. In preparation for the HLC’s March 2012 site visit, the • Despite trying economic times, private giving to the University of Oklahoma undertook a comprehensive university totaled over $144 million in 2010-11, and OU study using the Five Criteria and their Core Components reached a total of more than $180 million in gifts to its as a framework. This self-study report reflects the active ongoing scholarships campaign. involvement of the entire OU community – including members of the Board of Regents, the university’s executive (Letter from President Boren to various campus officers, faculty, staff, students and alumni. Planning for constituencies, June 22, 2011) (paraphrased with quotation the Self-Study began in the spring of 2009 when Senior marks omitted). Effective stewardship in the form of careful Vice President and Norman Campus Provost Nancy University of Oklahoma Higher Learning Commission Self-Study 3 Executive Summary Exhibit ES.3 FY12 Total Operating Budget Revenue: HSC (Excludes OU-Tulsa) FY 12 Total Operating Budget Revenue: HSC (excludes OU-Tulsa) Auxiliary/Agency Grants & Contracts State Appropriations Tuition & Fees Other E&G Scholarships Mergler established a Pre-Planning Committee to review The criterion committees met throughout the 2010-2011 all aspects of the university’s assessment and accountability academic year, with each committee gathering evidence and processes. A year later, that committee concluded its work generating reports responding to the relevant criterion and with the appointment of Michael Scaperlanda as the Self- its corresponding core components. During the summer Study coordinator. In the summer of 2010, the president and early fall of 2011, the Self-Study coordinator used the appointed the Steering Committee. At its August 2010 criteria committee reports to draft the self-study, continuing meeting, the Steering Committee approved the Self-Study to gather evidence as needed. The OU community received Design and established five criterion committees: the Data the self-study coordinator’s draft in the fall of 2011 and had Coordination and Resource Room Management Committee, a month to review and comment on the draft. The president a Communication and Third Party Comment Committee, received the Self-Study in early December and the Self-Study and a Hospitality Committee (see Committee Structure, was finalized by the end of the year. During the fall of 2011 supra page 153). The Steering Committee chose “forming and spring of 2012, the Self-Study coordinator spoke to leaders with a global view concerned for the common good the Board of Regents, the university vice presidents, deans in a changing and uncertain world” as the theme for the and Deans’ Council, Faculty Senates, Staff Senates, student Self-Study. Within