Oklahoma City University hired a new chief financial officer.
Kevan Buck became OCU’s CFO on Nov. 2 last year, which OCU announced on their website two days after he was hired. Buck replaced former interim CFO David E. McConnell.
“We are excited to welcome Kevan to Oklahoma City University and look forward to his impact on our institution,” President Martha Burger said on the website. “Kevan has an outstanding reputation and a wealth of experience in private higher education, and we are thrilled to have him join OCU’s executive leadership team.”
McConnell said Buck is well suited for the position and will bring a lot to the institution.
“I think he is an extremely well-qualified individual with tremendous experience and background. As I tell some people, I would like to have his level of experience,” McConnell said. “He’s a very competent, qualified individual, and OCU should be very pleased to have him.”
Buck has over 36 years of experience working in finances for higher education at various private universities. His most recent position was at the University of Tulsa as executive vice president for finance, operations & administration, corporate secretary & treasurer. During his time at TU, Buck oversaw the campus’s shift to a residential university, navigated the university through the 2008 financial crisis and helped the campus become more energy-efficient and environmentally conscious, the latter of which Buck said he is particularly proud of.
“It’s near and dear to my heart. Universities have the opportunity to do a lot with renewable resources and with recycling in particular. The volume of paper, things coming through universities, is enormous,” Buck said.
During Buck’s time at TU in early 2019, the administrators on TU’s Provost Program Review Committee announced the “True Commitment” plan, a plan that would be rolling out large scale cuts and reductions to programs across campus in an effort to restructure and reduce the expenditure of the university. Some programs that were planned to be cut were B.A. Musical Theatre, B.A. Vocal Music Performance, B.A. Theatre, B.A. Religion and B.A. Philosophy. Buck was on the PPRC as a senior administrator ex officio. Buck said the news coverage of the True Commitment plan was blown out of proportion.
“What you read in the papers is not necessarily the whole story. So, the idea that TU is decimating or eliminating liberal arts is just so far from the truth it’s ridiculous. That being said, some programs were reduced, not eliminated actually, but reduced,” Buck said. “Ultimately, very little change actually occurred through all that press we got.”
Buck left his position at TU during the summer of 2020 and applied for the CFO position at OCU. He said he received the job offer from President Burger soon after and accepted it. Buck said Burger convinced him to take the job, and after touring OCU, he was thoroughly impressed by the campus community.
“The thing that I was most blown away by, and my wife commented on it before I did, was that every person-faculty member, student, administrator-every person I saw walking on campus, whether they were by themselves or a group of two or three, they all had masks on,” he said. “And let me tell you, that’s not the norm.”
Buck said he didn’t have any plans for OCU at press time, but he will take a couple months to listen to students, staff, faculty and administration about the functions of the university and what he can do to help.
“I’ve not been at OCU long enough to really know what is in place, what’s happening right now. For me, in a new position, my first 90 days are all about listening, and just listening to what their needs are, and their desires are,” he said.
Abby Banks, political science/philosophy/economics junior, said she has complete faith in whoever President Burger picked for the position, although she was unaware the university hired a new CFO.
“I’m confident in our president’s pick and her ability to choose the leadership of our university, so I’m excited to see how this person works in that capacity,” Banks said.
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