ORU board reborn in new bylaws
BY APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer
Sunday, February 03, 2008
6/22/08 at 1:28 AM
View PDFs of ORU’s revised
articles of incorporation and
bylaws, and catch up on
previous articles and
documents.
www.tulsaworld.com/orulawsuit
The power of "spiritual regents" and ultimate leadership by the founder and his
family are gone in Oral Roberts University's revised articles of incorporation and bylaws.
The new documents usher
in shared governance -- with
defined roles for the board,
the president and the faculty
-- required by the Green family, which has donated $70
million to ORU.
The revised bylaws give
ORU's new governing board
the ultimate authority over
the college and state that the
president serves at the pleasure of the board.
Previously, the president
essentially had power over the
board, board of trustees
Chairman Mart Green said
last week.
When the university first accepted students in 1965,
founder Oral Roberts served
as the president, and his son
Richard Roberts succeeded
him in 1993. Richard Roberts
resigned in November, following a lawsuit, a storm of publicity and allegations he mismanaged the university and
misused its money. He denied
wrongdoing.
Both men, along with their
wives, were ORU's spiritual
regents, who had ultimate authority within ORU's old
board of regents, according to
the old bylaws. They were
considered ORU's "spiritual
prophets, seers, pastors, leaders and ministers." Teachings
of the chairman and vice
chairman of the spiritual regents "represent(ed) the
teachings" of Jesus as applied
to modern times "and must be
followed" by leaders and staff.
ORU "is essentially and fundamentally a religious organization," the old bylaws stated.
The Green family described
ORU's old articles of incorporation and bylaws as inadequate and obsolete in its plan
for the university, which the
old board of regents accepted
this month.
The new articles of incorporation provide a way to change
the name and purpose of the
university: by a unanimous
vote of the full board three
years in a row at its annual
meeting. ORU's stated purpose, the same as it was described in the 1991 version of
ORU's articles of incorporation, includes education of the
"whole person," including
mind, spirit and body.
The revised bylaws define
the responsibilities of four
groups:
Board: Trustees will serve
three-year terms, with about a
third of the trustees' terms expiring each year. The board
will make sure ORU sticks to
its mission; elect a president
by two-thirds of the trustees at
the meeting; approve of
ORU's budget, tuition, investments, any loans, construction, renovations and the purchase, sale and management
of land, buildings and major
equipment; and participate in
fundraising.
The board will decide the
president's compensation and
length and conditions of employment. These duties are
similar to those of other university boards in Oklahoma.
President: The president
will be the university's CEO, a
nonvoting board member and
the board's chief adviser, responsible for "all university
educational and managerial
affairs." The president will be
in charge of leading the university, hiring administrators
in consultation with the board
and implementing board policies, and will be "responsible
for the effective direction and
organization of the faculty"
and other ORU employees.
Faculty: The faculty will include the president and will
be responsible for directing
the educational program, including "admission requirements, curricula, instruction,
schedules and degree requirements."
Students: Students who "desire to undertake serious academic study" and "show
promise" of academic success
may enroll at ORU.
The bylaws also state that
the chair, vice chair, secretary
and treasurer of the board,
and one or more vice presidents will be elected annually
by the board.
The revised bylaws call for
a smaller board -- now up to
22 members instead of 44 -- and require participation and
attendance at meetings. Under the old articles of incorporation, a third of business regents constituted a quorum,
whereas a majority of trustees
now makes up a quorum.
Regents could be removed
from the board only for "moral turpitude, fraud, apostasy or
the like," but trustees can be
removed with or without
cause by a two-thirds vote of
the whole board.
A conflict of interest policy
adopted Thursday calls for
"arm's length bargaining" and
"reasonable investment or
payments for goods and services."
The board of trustees created the nonvoting board of reference to replace the old
board of regents. The board of
reference exists "to provide
for effective communication
and informative exchange and
service among the public, this
university's stakeholders and
the university," according to
ORU's revised bylaws.
The board of reference has
44 members, including about
a half-dozen former regents.
ORU had about 40 business
and associate regents and regents emeriti this school year.
Longtime regents Chairwoman Marilyn Hickey made the
switch, as did Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa. The
board also includes former
U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts and David
Green, founder of the Hobby
Lobby chain and a member of
ORU's donor family.
April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com
