OU Regents approve raises, hires

Full-time faculty on the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus will get a raise Jan. 1 to bring their pay more in line with benchmark salaries.

The OU Board of Regents approved the $4.6 million pay increase plan during a meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

At his installation this summer, President Jim Gallogly said paying faculty a competitive salary was a top objective, second only to providing students a high-value, affordable education.

“We’re working on Norman faculty first, given the greatest disparity on actual pay versus expected market pay,” Gallogly said Tuesday. “I’m very, very happy to recommend these faculty raises.”

The next step will be to find funding for raises for faculty at the OU Health Sciences Center and staff at all campuses, he said.

“The university has now found over $31 million in ongoing savings starting in fiscal year 2020. This number is going to continue to grow,” Gallogly reported.

“Finding savings like this allows us to hold tuition flat, give our faculty raises, as well as our staff, and advance our mission of doubling research.”

Gallogly reported OU’s efforts to double research have resulted in 742 grants totaling $174 million since July 1.

Low pay for faculty and staff is an issue throughout the state’s 25 public colleges and universities. Many have implemented tuition and fee hikes to provide pay increases.

Among them is Oklahoma State University, which raised tuition and fees on the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses by 3.2 percent this year. OSU’s budget includes a 2.5 percent raise for faculty and staff, effective Jan. 1.

Executive hires

Gallogly cut and reorganized his executive team on his first day in office. Ten top-level positions were posted in August and September and advertised nationally.

Regents on Tuesday approved Gallogly’s recommendations to fill four positions:

• Ken Rowe, senior vice president and chief financial officer, at an annual salary of

$400,000. Rowe was named to the position on an interim basis in July. He has more than three decades of finance and administration experience in higher education and in the private industry, and joined OU in 1998.

• Charles Wright, chief audit executive, at an annual salary of $225,000. Wright has more than 20 years of professional experience in the audit field and recently served as director of audit services at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

• Lauren Brookey, vice president for marketing and communications, at an annual salary of $200,000. Brookey has 40-plus years of experience in communications, public and media relations, external affairs and marketing. She currently is vice president of external affairs and president of the TCC Foundation at Tulsa Community College.

• John Woods, executive director for governmental affairs, at an annual salary of $155,000. Woods has a background in policy advancement, political advocacy, and government relations, working with federal, state and local governments over 18 years. He stepped down last week as the executive director for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Fund.