University of Central Oklahoma president to leave mid-school year

EDMOND — The University of Central Oklahoma announced Monday the resignation of its president, who grappled with a $15 million budget shortfall and a controversial cost-saving plan throughout her tenure.

President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar, the first woman to lead UCO, said she will depart Jan. 31 after fewer than 3 1/2 years in office.

She intends to move to Kansas City, Missouri, where her wife, Ruki, is the president of the Kansas City Art Institute. Neuhold-Ravikumar said she and her wife have lived in separate cities for more than five years.

"Our commitment to each other’s success is what enabled us to live this way for so long," Neuhold-Ravikumar said. "We find ourselves on the flipside of that situation now. It is our commitment to each other’s success that is leading our decision to now live in the same place together."

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Neuhold-Ravikumar spent the past 15 years with the university, whose flagship campus is in Edmond. She served as the school's vice president of finance and chief financial officer before becoming UCO's president in July 2019.

Much of her time in office has been spent mired in budget struggles whose cause originated long before she was the university's president or financial chief. UCO's enrollment and state funding have steadily fallen over the past decade, culminating in a $15 million budget shortfall that university leaders sought this year to resolve with tuition hikes, new fees and faculty cuts.

Reflecting a troubling pattern among female executives, Neuhold-Ravikumar stepped into a position already steeped in financial difficulty, said Travis Roach, chair of UCO's Department of Economics. Those challenges intensified with the outbreak of COVID-19.

"We notice this in the private sector as well," Roach said. "There's this phenomenon known as the glass cliff where women are put in positions of leadership right before a company is reaching the edge. I don't know that that's happening here, but that's a concern."

Budget cuts prompted protests at UCO

A proposal to eliminate 40 faculty positions, including filled and unfilled jobs, became deeply unpopular among UCO students, who objected to any layoffs of their professors. Frustrations over the handling of theater department head Kato Buss, whom six former students accused of sexual harassment, also stoked anger over the administration's budget approach.

Dozens of students confronted Neuhold-Ravikumar outside her office in an April protest.

"We've heard so many different numbers (for cuts), and the numbers continue to increase," Logan Boyd, a junior at the time, said at the demonstration. "We're not entirely sure what's true and what's not because we don't know whether or not we can trust our administration."

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The president told students cost-cutting measures were necessary because of enrollment declines. UCO's total enrollment fell by 20.4% over the past five years, and 30% fewer freshmen are attending the university than five years ago, according to fall 2022 data.

"We have 20% fewer students," Neuhold-Ravikumar said to the protesters outside her office in April. "Why do we need the same number of people who are serving (them)?"

The university announced a new Fiscal Year 2023 plan in May that would address the budget shortfall without eliminating any filled full-time faculty. UCO said it would raise tuition by 3% and cut 30 unfilled professor jobs.

Boyd, one of the protest organizers, said the tuition increase was "bothersome," especially on top of the 2.75% hike the previous year, but called the new plan a "good compromise."

Rumors of layoffs ramped up again in recent weeks. UCO is developing plans to phase out or consolidate programs and majors, according to an Oct. 11 email to faculty from Provost Charlotte Simmons.

Notes from a faculty town hall on Thursday show some professors fear 30 or more positions could be cut to lower the university's student-to-faculty ratio, though UCO has not announced such a measure.

The town hall notes show "support for a no-confidence vote was articulated" during the meeting, indicating a potential loss of trust between faculty and university leadership.

Last year, the UCO faculty senate said it communicated with Neuhold-Ravikumar regularly. Thursday's town hall notes state the president had not met with the senate's executive committee in at least two months.

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UCO's governing board, the Regional University System of Oklahoma Board of Regents, accepted the president's resignation Monday. The board will announce a "path forward for university leadership" in the coming weeks, according to a UCO news release.

"The Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma have accepted President Neuhold-Ravikumar’s resignation," board Chairperson Connie Reilly said. "We are grateful for her many contributions and wish her the very best as she prioritizes spending time with her family. President Neuhold-Ravikumar’s 15 years of dedicated service have helped make UCO a top regional university committed to academic excellence and preparing our students for success."

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: UCO president Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar to leave mid-school year