LAWTON – Cameron University President Shane Hunt on Tuesday will ask regents who govern the school to add two associate degree programs and drop another.
The agenda for the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents meeting, set to be held on OU’s Health Sciences Campus in Oklahoma City, includes an item with the Cameron request. CU wants to add an associate of applied science degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant and another in Physical Therapy Assistant.
The university also wants to drop an associate of arts degree in Strategic Communication.
According to the meeting agenda, the Occupational Therapy Assistant program and the Physical Therapist Assistant program are being sought to respond “to a clear and growing need for well qualified, educated graduates to enter the workforce in a critical occupation field.”
Cameron said 14 new courses would be added for the Occupational Therapy Program and 10 for the Physical Therapist Assistant program. Both programs would be offered in conjunction with Caddo Kiowa Technology Center in Fort Cobb, through an articulation agreement. Cameron is asking for no additional funds to create either program.
As far as the request to eliminate the associate degree in Strategic Communication, there has been a failure to meet minimum productivity standards, according to the agenda item. The university said the 10 students currently in the program would be given until summer 2028 to complete degree requirements.
One of the required courses for that degree would be deleted, but all of the other courses required for the degree also are required for other programs, meaning there are no funds available due to the reallocation.
The changes have gone through an on-campus approval process on the campus that included faculty, an academic unit and dean, the CU Curriculum Committee, the vice president of academic affairs and Hunt.
If Cameron’s regents approve the request, the university then would seek final approval from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, a board that oversees public higher education throughout the state. ___
Murray Evans has reported in Oklahoma for nearly 40 years, covering subjects including education, tribal affairs, energy and sports. Previously working for The Oklahoman and The Associated Press, Evans has travelled the state to tell the stories of Oklahomans, winning multiple awards in sports and news writing along the way.
He can be reached at murray. evans@swoknews.com.