Statement to the OSU/A&M Board of Regents
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Statement to the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, April 23, 2010 by Bruce Russell, Chair of the Faculty at Oklahoma State University
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Regents,
Good Morning.
Let me begin by stating that I have no illusion as to my role as Chair of the Faculty.
I am simply one Chair in a line of predecessors who blazed the path of leadership
before me and successors who will carry the mantle for the faculty into the future.
It has been my distinct pleasure and honor to serve as Chair of the Faculty and Chair
of the Faculty Council for Oklahoma State University representing faculty in Stillwater,
Okmulgee, Oklahoma City, OSU-Tulsa and the Center for Health Sciences.
I know that many of you view me, very naturally, as an advocate for the faculty.
And that is a role that I most certainly embrace. However the role as “Faculty Advocate”
does not fully encompass the breadth nor purpose of how the faculty and the faculty
leadership view our selves. Indeed, our view of Faculty Leadership incorporates Advocacy
for the Whole of Oklahoma State University. We collectively consider ourselves partners,
not just employees, in the enterprise of higher education.
And when we talk about Higher Education we mean Higher Education in its broadest terms
where we, the Faculty, fulfill not only the well known role as Classroom Teachers,
but also where we, the Faculty embrace the leadership role that is thrust upon us
by our status as a Land Grant Institution. That Leadership extends to Research and
Scholarship, Graduate Education, and Creative Activities whether developing technology
in Agriculture or Transportation, or whether one of our Faculty composes the next
Great American Symphony or authors the next Great American Novel…
Our President, Burns Hargis, has set before us the goal of remaking Oklahoma State
University into one of the Top Tier Land Grant Institutions in America. It is a goal
and a strategic vision that our Faculty embrace. And please know that when we achieve
this goal at some certain point in time in our near future, Oklahoma State will wear
a mantle of leadership not just in Oklahoma but in the Nation and in the World. That
is the Goal.
I am sure you can appreciate, along with the faculty, that in order to accomplish
that goal we must necessarily do things in ways different than the past. We must
embrace new ideas and new methods, provided those new ideas are consistent with our
gathered wisdom of the 100 years past.
Positive change demands substantive and real changes in policies; and these policies
must embrace and encourage the enterprise of creativity and scholarship. Some policy
initiatives that you are likely to see coming from the faculty:
- Greater incentives for outstanding research and scholarship – and though this may sound like a plea for increased salaries it is not; rather it is a plea for restructuring internal allotments of overhead distributions and other incentives that reward faculty;
- Enhancing Faculty Salaries and set goals for salaries that are consistent with our peers as a Premier Land Grant Institution;
- Invigorate a Phased Retirement for Faculty to help dignify the long service from many of our faculty while helping to maintain the vitality of our current faculty. Currently we have 271 full-time faculty that are eligible for retirement representing 25 to 30 percent of our workforce. While there are certain challenges represented in that statistic, there are also opportunities to generously reward faculty for their long service while re-invigorating the faculty to serve the creative, education and scholarship missions.
- Meaningful pursuit of diversity programs that will make Oklahoma State University a Destination for many of our non-majority population groups. These are goals that can and should be accomplished and are also consistent with our land grant mission. Again, I call specifically for Oklahoma State University to become a destination University for Native Americans from all across the United States because of our unique history as the former Indian Territory, and to also honor that history with our commitment. And that is not to diminish the importance of outreach to all groups; rather it is, I believe, part of a strategic vision whereby we can build on our natural advantages based on geography and society, and to help set Oklahoma State apart from our peers.
Finally, the Faculty and the Faculty Leadership desire very strongly to Partner with
the President and with the Board of Regents to Effect the necessary changes as we
help move Oklahoma State into an even higher calling of Leadership in Instruction,
Service Scholarship and Extension.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Respectfully,
Bruce W. Russell