Rotarian Dr. John Feaver discussed the latest news involving Science & Arts and its relationship to the Chickasha community.The November 3, 2022, meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha was called to order by President-Elect Jim Cowan. Rot. Mitch Williams led the club in singing "Down at the Leg Lamp," a parody of "Under the Boardwalk" to celebrate the downtown park grand opening on Saturday.
Cowan reminded members that the Rotary Christmas Party will be held December 12 at 6pm, at The Club. Those interested in attending should RSVP with President Lewis Knisley by December 5.
Cowan introduced Rotarian Dr. John Feaver as Rotarian of the Day and also as the speaker for the meeting. Dr. Feaver is the president of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
Dr. Feaver stated that one of his "major preoccupations" as president of Science & Arts is improving quality of life community-wide, and recent developments in the downtown district have helped that mission greatly. He mentioned that downtown now served all sorts of purposes—not only retail and commercial, but also residential, entertainment, arts and culture. The university has been involved in repurposing multiple buildings downtown. The Art Wrecker Studio has been open over a year now. They have been in talks with MidFirst Bank about making their current MidFirst building on Chickasha Avenue into a residential complex.
Additionally, the university has been involved in negotiations for the old J.C. Penney's building next to the Chickasha Mall—a private donor is looking to acquire the building as an art gallery and museum. This gallery would house a number of artifacts and works currently owned by the university but that cannot be displayed on campus due to limited space.
Dr. Feaver's second main topic concerned the importance of private donations for the University. He had high praise for the fundraising efforts from the USAO Foundation. He pointed out that all capital improvements to the Science & Arts campus were funded by private donations, not public funding.
According to Dr. Feaver, the university is operating in an "interesting political and fiscal environment." He said that the state legislature "has not been generous" in funding education. An additional complication is a sort of market saturation, where too many schools in the state are competing for too few students. Enrollment has been down statewide, not only due to the pandemic but also due to an increasing number of high school students opting for career paths that do not involve higher education. While Science & Arts has rebounded and even exceeded pre-pandemic enrollment, other institutions have not fared as well.
Dr. Feaver stressed that the degree to which a community supports its college is important, and may soon become even more so. He stated that the state regents were paying close attention to how connected each institution is to its community—those that are not well connected will be at higher risk of being closed.
Science & Arts has taken a creative approach to education and continues to develop innovative solutions for the current higher education environment. It is the only public liberal arts college in the state and one of only 30 in the country. Since its conversion to a co-ed college (then known as the Oklahoma College for Liberal Arts), its mandate has been to serve "academically and artistically skilled students statewide". Besides Science & Arts, only the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University have statewide mandates.
The current environment places great emphasis on colleges matching workforce needs, and seeing a return on investment from programs—which Feaver noted are appealing "at a surface level". Towards these ends, however, Science & Arts is adding career development and certification programs. They are also bolstering their institutional research capability in partnership with Cameron University. Certain graduate programs from Cameron will be available through Science & Arts. The university is also partnering with OU to provide a joint degree in nursing; graduates of this program will receive certificates from both institutions. Dr. Feaver said that those who entered the medical field after attending USAO had much better understanding of the healthcare system itself and the "soft skills" required in the industry.
Most significantly, through a partnership Dr. Feaver said "has never been done before", Science & Arts is consolidating many of their services with Redlands Community College. While the institutions remain separate, certain administrative structures will operate as a "single unit" on both campuses, such as information technology and media. This will allow both institutions to draw on each other's strengths to bolster their efforts.
Past President, Rot. Ed Stanton, adjourned the meeting.
Catering was provided by Alexander Eats.