EOSC Board of Regents pass MOU to share resources with CASC

Feb. 8—The Eastern Oklahoma State College Board of Regents passed a memorandum of understanding of their own after rejecting a proposal from the governor's office that would effectively merge the college with another southeast Oklahoma college.

Last week, the Eastern Oklahoma State College Board of Regents passed an MOU during a special meeting in response to an MOU presented to EOSC and Carl Albert State College from the governor's office.

The MOU came after Gov. Kevin Stitt visited EOSC on Jan. 19 and said he wanted colleges, like EOSC and Carl Albert, to start having conversations about sharing programs and resources with other area colleges.

"I'm trying to bring those conversations around the state where you guys can collaborate, work together, share resources," Stitt said.

The governor said he wants the conversations to begin after he looked at job degree programs across the state with some programs only having a handful of graduates each year.

"My point is, we don't need those at every single university around the state," Stitt said. "We just don't have the resources."

According to a press release from EOSC, the two colleges have partnered "to maximize efficiency in several projects in the past."

During the Jan. 19 meeting in Wilburton, EOSC President Dr. Janet Wansick said the two colleges are currently sharing a criminal justice instructor. EOSC is also sharing a Human Resources director with Connors State College in Warner with more talks underway on how CASC and EOSC can collaborate.

"The two institutions have a faculty and course sharing agreement, along with Connors State College, that started in the fall of 2021," EOSC said in a release. "Since that time, EOSC and CASC have shared approximately 40 courses affecting 637 students. To date, existing partnerships between the colleges have saved an estimated $80,000 annually."

A copy of the MOUs was obtained by the News-Capital following EOSC's special meeting last week.

In the proposed MOU from the governor's office between the colleges, the colleges are to combine senior staff positions, faculty to teach at both colleges, if practical, work to combine curriculum, a review and alignment of athletic programs, and create a joint strategic plan while combining marketing, financial aid processing, and fundraising efforts along with other items.

The proposed steps in the MOU states it would led to, pending any other conditions required, a unified Board of Regents, a single president of the college with cabinet-level positions serving the colleges, a unified curriculum, sharing of facility, and the sharing of a single accreditation.

After showing concerns with the proposal, the EOSC Board of Regents passed their own MOU due to the "merger" language contained in the proposed MOU received from the governor's office.

EOSC Regent Chair Leland Walker said during the special meeting he was shocked to see the language in the proposed MOU because he believed all parties involved were in agreement of sharing resources and agreed that a merger was not on the table.

"After our initial visit with Carl Albert State University, we were of the understanding that we were both on the same pages for sharing resources and that we were not interested in merging or consolidating," Walker said.

In a meeting with the state Board of Regents, Walker said the Board was pleased the two colleges were working on sharing resources was the same conclusion shared by the governor's chief of staff during a separate meeting.

Walker said Carl Albert changed their tone during a second meeting and proposed a single board between the two colleges with Walker stating Eastern expressed their "reluctancy to go down that road."

EOSC's proposed MOU states a unified board made of three designates from each college's Board with a member approved from the governor's office to be formed to review matters, share senior staff positions once they become available "as practical" to serve both colleges, share courses and staff, a joint strategic plan, cooperation in tutoring services and grant funding, and joining each other when contracting with third-parties for software and other projects.

The long-term goals listed in EOSC's MOU states the two colleges would share a unified curriculum on common general education programs, shared staff and faculty where appropriate, and shared services as determined by each college's president.

"This MOU is not about any individual," Wansick said in a statement. "This is about protecting student access and student success in southeastern Oklahoma."

A request for comment on the matter from CASC was not received prior to the publication of this article.

EOSC's MOU will be sent to CASC and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for further discussion.