Economic woes are touching almost every sector right now, and academia is no exception. ORU is not specifying which departments will experience cuts – but cites it as necessary to remain fiscally solvent. Ralph Fagin noted, “You can’t spend more than you’re taking in.” We wish someone would tell that to the government. Oh wait.
Richard Roberts will get a $223,600 salary from the school, under terms of a separation agreement announced last Friday minus unbilled personal and travel expenses. Richard and Lindsay still face a lawsuit from former ORU accountant Trent Huddleston.
Remember that independent audit that the former Board of Regents ordered last year? All evidence points to the fact that the audit was delivered ORALLY and NEVER delivered in writing. No really, we’re not kidding.
Please note that this was the audit delivered to the FORMER governing body of the school, which has since been replaced.
Normally we would write on this, but this time we’ll let you read another person’s excellent take on the matter. You won’t be disappointed.
Click here to read the analysis.
Highlights from the speech given by Dr. Ralph Fagin, interim president of ORU.
Debt has been cut to 18 million (from 55 million).
ORU has the capacity for 800 more students. This will fuel speculation on whether enrollment has dropped significantly due to the scandal. ORU is definitely in a “rebuilding phase.”
The university is starting a multi-million dollar scholarship fund.
This story is making the rounds…
Mart Green calls the severance package “fair and reasonable.”
Keep visiting SaveORU.com for more news and analysis.
The official job requirements are posted online at here. The search is being handled by an executive search company.
Mark Lewandowski will be leaving his position as ORU’s provost on June 24th, but will continue working as a professor. At the height of the scandal involving Richard and Lindsay Roberts, he had remarked that the former President Roberts’ management had created a “culture of fear” on campus.
“You could buy everyone a plasma-screen TV for their rooms, it doesn’t matter, you have to treat everyone like adults.” - Andrew Saah, Sophmore, ORU (Accepted to University of Maryland as a transfer student)
Ouch – one could have seen this coming. It’s something that should have happened long ago, after years of struggling with a crushing debt and a corporate culture of fear, Oral Roberts University has another major hurdle to overcome. Since its beginnings, ORU has taken on the role of a “surrogate parent/guardian” for its students. Whether you were 18 or 40 –if you lived in the dorms –you had a curfew and an RA telling you to clean your room. Adding insult to injury, it cost you a pretty penny too, and up until 2001, you had to wear business attire to attend classes.
With tuition costs soaring and more students footing the bill for their own education, they want to be in control of their college experience. ORU has improved over the years with the adoption of more customer-service oriented approaches, but the recent scandal has made many of the most forgiving students and parents take a step back and ask “what am I really getting for my money?”
Many of the former regents presided over “feeder” churches (ones that actively recruited its high-school graduates to attend ORU.) This could partially explain the drop in enrollment. In addition, the current economic pullback is probably driving many students to stay closer to home or attend community college for the first two years. (Many of ORU’s students come from out of state.)
ORU has a lot of ground to cover and must reinvent itself to survive. Vanguard University of Southern California (affiliated with the Assemblies of God) successfully reinvented itself back in 1999. Almost a decade later Vanguard is thriving. ORU can accomplish the same.
We’re not saying that ORU isn’t a worthwhile education. In fact, it’s fantastic in many ways. With no fraternities, students actually attend class, are just as competitive (mentally, physically and academically) with students from other colleges and are adequately prepared for the workplace.
Look for our new article on “What ORU Must Do” in the near future.
ORU is in the middle of a new fundraising campaign entitled “Renewing the Vision”, it includes a $25 million matching campaign for donors, alumni and friends.
Save ORU would like to encourage everyone to be a part of bringing the university out of debt and into the 21st century.
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