Leadership and Structure

It is important to understand how OU works. Learn about the university's leadership and organizational structure.

Governance

Board of Regents

The Board of Regents is the official governing body of the University of Oklahoma. It executes the business of our University and keeps records of key decisions. Board of Regents' meeting minutes have been digitized in their entirety and made available online.

Graduate Council

The Graduate Council is the governing body for all policies relating to graduate education on the Norman and Tulsa campuses. As the instrument of the graduate faculty, this body:

Exercises the general legislative and academic authority of the graduate faculty
Establishes policies and standards governing development and changes in graduate curricula, including new courses or degree programs
Makes recommendations on all new proposed graduate programs or substantially modified graduate programs, as well as proposed deletions of graduate programs
Monitors graduate course offerings, determines the eligibility of students for admission, financial aid, and graduation, and advises the Dean of the Graduate College on other Graduate College matters

Faculty Senate

The Faculty Senate exercises legislative powers as delegated by the regular faculty and has the power to initiate any legislation requiring approval of the Board of Regents. Meetings of the Senate are held monthly during the regular school year and are open to the public.

Accreditation

The University of Oklahoma is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), an institutional accreditation agency that accredits degree-granting colleges and universities based in the United States. HLC publishes a Statement of Accreditation Status, which describes the accreditation relationship between the University of Oklahoma and the Higher Learning Commission.

In addition, the University of Oklahoma aims to comply with all federal and state guidelines related to authorization of distance education. Our institution has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).

For more information related to OU's distance education activities, please visit OU's Distance Education website.