The Daily O’Collegian

The OSU regents say they found Mr. Right in businessman Burns Hargis.

But his appointment as the next university president signals the end of a time when the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents would have settled for nothing less than Dr. Right.

Hargis will be OSU’s 18th president and the first since the 1920s without a Ph.D. when he starts in July.

The change may be the product of a national trend that shows states are providing less financing for public universities, many have said.

A history lesson

During OSU’s 1994 presidential search, the regents were considering Roger Webb, now president of the University of Central Oklahoma.

Webb, who spent 12 years in law enforcement before entering academia, was favored for the position against Jim Halligan, who served as OSU president from 1994 to 2003, according to news reports.

But Webb withdrew his name from consideration after a forum with the faculty, students and staff, Webb said.

At the forum, many faculty questioned whether a person without a Ph.D. could run a research university.

“The faculty weren’t interested or ready to have someone with a J.D. (juris doctorate) as a president or leader,” Webb said. “I didn’t believe it would be very productive spending our time arguing about petty differences.”

Halligan took the helm at OSU, and Webb was hired to lead UCO in 1997.

The times are changing

Twenty years ago, the state financed nearly 50 percent of the university’s budget but the state is providing little more than 25 percent of 2008’s budget, records from the office of communications show.

Meanwhile, private donations have increased from 1 percent of the budget in 1988 to nearly 4 percent this year.

The trend to rely on private donations can be expected to continue to increase as state financing is expected to continue declining across the country, said Carol Moder, past chairwoman of the Faculty Council.

“All other things being equal, in general, the faculty would prefer somebody with an academic background,” said Moder, head of the English Department.

“However, having said that, the problem is that the job of the president has become more and more external and less and less internal.”

Public universities have begun a new hierarchy with a strong provost who deals with academic enterprise and a president who deals specifically with external relations, Moder said.

“That appears to be the model that OSU is attempting this time around,” she said.

This model demands a strong provost, she said.

But OSU Provost Marlene Strathe said the academic side of the institution has always been the responsibility of the provost and the vice president for student affairs.

The provost prioritizes academic budget requests, helps decide where to invest money for research and considers tenure and promotion.

“The involvement of president has been varied depending on their interest,” said Strathe, who has acted as interim president since David Schmidly left the post in February 2007.

Strathe said she started working with Hargis but their discussions so far have focused on education in general, no specifics.

Hargis, who has an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma, agreed that he will have many external roles to play when he takes over.

“A provost certainly manages the academic side,” Hargis said. “…The expertise in a good provost is critical if you have a president without an academic background.”

 Some faculty hesitant

History professor Elizabeth Williams said hiring a businessman to lead a research university is “an unfortunate development.”

“I think it shows a real disdain for intellectual life and activity, and what could be worse for students?” Williams said. “It sends a bad signal to students, to parents and to citizens.”

Although Williams has not met Hargis and does not have any animosity toward him personally, she said she disagrees with the regents’ choice.

“This man’s life has not been focused on learning,” she said.

She added, “Can you imagine a bank deciding to hire a history professor to run it?”

But Bob Miller, the chairman of Faculty Council, said he has faith in the regents’ pick.

Miller, along with three other faculty, served on the presidential search committee. He said Hargis “was head and shoulders above the other candidates.”

Hargis was the only candidate without a Ph.D., said Miller, a regents professor of microbiology.

“He convinced us that he could, in fact, be what we all agreed the president of the university should be,” Miller said.

Hargis demonstrated to the committee that he could be a public face for the university and someone who could represent OSU at the state Legislature, at federal Congress, to the public and to alumni, Miller said.

Miller said Hargis reassured the search committee during his interview that he understands a university president can’t run the school university like a business.

Furthermore, Hargis is “clearly an individual who listens to others,” he said.

Hargis’ commitment to the university also was evident, Miller said.

“It was clear the man bleeds orange like nobody I’ve ever seen in my life,” Miller said.

And Ken Kiser, a sociology professor, said “what we’ve learned [from Schmidly’s presidency] is that there’s no magical leadership from somebody who has a Ph.D.”

Jean Van Delinder, the vice chairwoman of Faculty Council, described earning a doctorate degree as a “rite of passage.” Nevertheless, she said she hopes for good relations between the Faculty Council and the new president.

Van Delinder, the director of the Women’s Studies Program, pointed to Hargis’ time as a regent to demonstrate that Hargis has a thorough understanding of higher education.

“That experience is helpful,” she said.

 Selection shrouded in secrecy

Although faculty say they are excited to work with Hargis, many say his selection was far too secretive.

Hargis did not address the public in an open forum before the regents selected him to lead the university, an error in the regents’ judgment, they say.

Moder said the lack of forum robbed not only the public but also Hargis, who could have used the forum to win people over.

Schmidly did not meet with the public in a forum when he came to OSU either, Moder said. The search committee during each search said there was only one worthwhile candidate.

“If there had been a forum, there weren’t three top candidates to bring in,” Moder said.

But Kiser said the regents’ choice to forgo a forum with multiple candidates left the faculty feeling unsettled as if the process were “wired from the beginning.”

“There was a question as to the legitimacy of the process,” Kiser said. “There’s a lot of cynicism from the faculty.”

 Hargis the next Boren?

Since Hargis was selected in December, he has been repeatedly compared to OU President David Boren.

David Levy, a retired OU history professor writing the history of OU, said Boren came to the university in 1994. Boren is the school’s second non-academic president.

Herbert Holloman served as OU’s president from 1968 to 1970. He was not popular in the state or on the campus, Levy said, so some faculty were hesitant when they learned Boren would take over.

Before Boren was appointed, however, he met with 25 to 30 faculty leaders to ask and answer questions, Levy said.

“By the time that meeting was over, much of the anxiety had been relaxed,” Levy said.

Boren has been successful, especially in fundraising, and is popular across OU’s campus today, Levy said.

Kiser also acknowledged Boren’s success at OU.

“OSU people didn’t say it openly, but they said it privately, ‘We’ve got to find ourselves a David Boren-type,’” Kiser said.

Hargis might be that type, Kiser said.

But Williams said a comparison of Hargis to Boren is inaccurate.

Boren was a senator and governor and he was a Rhodes Scholar, she said.

“There is no equivalence between David Boren and Burns Hargis,” Williams said.

And Moder said it would be impossible to find another Boren.

“David Boren has remarkable credentials,” she said.

“Frankly, in the context of Oklahoma, there’s no second David Boren out there on the horizon.”