Key Takeaways

• At a March 12 Faculty Senate meeting, officials said RUSO regents had formed a working group of university presidents and provosts to review tenure policies and respond to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order
• Faculty say 11 UCO professors up for tenure are on hold while the university determines how to address the executive order
• Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order ends new tenure at regional universities and shifts faculty to renewable, performance-based contracts

Governor Kevin Stitt’s executive order changing how tenure works at Oklahoma universities, previously reported on by The Independent View, has left professors being considered for tenure facing an uncertain future.

Unofficial minutes of a March 12 Faculty Senate meeting provided to The Indy show how this EO affects UCO. Provost Charlotte Simmons and Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Jason Nelson attended.

Simmons provided clarification to the Faculty Senate about Executive Order 2026-06 and what the university is doing to address it. The meeting minutes say that the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) Regents have formed a “working group of university presidents and provosts” that are reviewing current tenure policies and considering “how to move forward with the governor’s executive order.”

According to the meeting minutes, 11 UCO faculty members up for tenure are “on hold” while the university determines how to address the executive order. Simmons said this does not mean these faculty members have been rejected for tenure.

Nelson encouraged Faculty Senate members to contact legislators with concerns about tenure or other legislation and stressed the importance of doing so as individuals and not as representatives of UCO.

“The provost has been very sympathetic with what we’re doing,” said Chad Perry, the president of UCO’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and a Professor in the Mass Communication department. He said that while there are rumors that University President Todd Lamb has been active “behind the scenes” when it comes to the executive order, he hasn’t said anything publicly.

“We’ve got people here in our department that don’t have tenure yet, so they’re kind of in limbo,” Perry said. “That’s very annoying, because we have some very qualified people teaching here.”

Senate Bill 1782, which would have eliminated tenure at all Oklahoma universities with no exceptions, did not pass out of the Senate by the March 26 legislative deadline. Now, professors must wait and see whether the next governor will undo Stitt’s executive order.

The Independent View reached out to two Oklahoma gubernatorial candidates, House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City and Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Drummond’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Munson sent a statement condemning the executive order, saying professors should have been consulted about reforms to the tenure system.

“Tenure was put in place to protect academic freedom. Without it, professors may hesitate to do their jobs to the fullest extent,” Munson said.

The Independent View reached out to University Communications asking for a statement on the executive order and received a response that UCO is not offering a statement at this time.