Betz named president of the University of Central Oklahoma

(Tahlequah, OK)--Dr. Don Betz was named president of the University of Central Oklahoma today (June 2) by the Regional University System of Oklahoma Board of Regents. He will assume his new position on Aug. 1.

Betz currently is serving as president of Northeastern State University, a position he has held since 2008. With campuses in Tahlequah, Muskogee, and Broken Arrow NSU enrolled, 9,588 students during the last academic year.

Im honored that the RUSO board has provided me with this opportunity to serve the faculty, staff and students of the University of Central Oklahoma. I leave NSU with great affection and appreciation, but look forward to joining my colleagues at Central in enhancing Oklahomas public, metropolitan university.

Betz has been engaged in higher education for 40 years. During that time he developed a reputation for teaching and encouraging students, leadership development and diplomacy through his international activities, most notably associated with the United Nations and its affiliated non-government organizations.

On July 1, 2008, he became the 17th president of Northeastern State University on the eve of the institutions Centennial Celebration. Since then NSU has entered a new era that was best symbolized through a revised strategic plan that followed the century milestone, Charting the Second Century. Highlights during that time included:

• Formation of an executive leadership team that has as its hallmark openness and distributed decision-making that expands governance participation in institutional decision-making to fully include faculty, staff and students.
• Reversal of a three-year enrollment decline to the second highest student population in the institutions history, with 9,588 students in fall 2010.
• The addition of numerous new majors, as well as the launch of the College of Extended Learning in Broken Arrow to meet the needs of place-bound adult learners in the Tulsa metro area.
• Renovation of the Performing Arts Building; realization of funding for a $10 million Multipurpose Events Center; Redmen Heritage Wall; renovations to Doc Wadley Stadium; naming and improvements to the Dan DeLoche Soccer Complex; the Capitola Cappi Wadley Reading Clinic in the re-named Bagley Hall; re-naming of the W. Roger Webb Educational Technology Center; construction of the Gateway Fountain and Be the Change inscription; groundbreaking for a $5 million classroom facility by Connors State College on the NSU-Muskogee campus; Second Century Trail that connects NSU-Broken Arrow to the Tulsa recreational trail; planning for a $20 million Health & Wellness Center; and completion of Centennial Plaza and Second Century Square.
• Implementation of the Banner database management system that serves as the backbone for all financial activities, human resources, and student record-keeping.
• Collaborative launch of the Regional Summits with dozens of regional partners to address economic development, environmental sustainability, and healthy families and schools through a comprehensive plan. NSUs participation is through Making Place Matter, a state-wide higher education initiative, through which the institution has launched a Business Service Center and an Office of Community and International Engagement to enhance its engagement to advance NSUs 21-county service area.
• Record donors and donations to the NSU Foundation, including the first million dollar gift in its history.
• Expansion of globalization with a partnership with CIBT, Inc., of Canada that will introduce hundreds of Asian students to English language and culture through distance learning between NSUBA, Canada and China, as well as enrollment at that campus for Asian students seeking degrees at NSU.
• Entry into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association from the Lone Star Conference for the institutions 10 NCAA Division II athletic teams.
• As president of the Northeast Oklahoma Public Facilities Authority, he initiated construction of Compressed Natural Gas filling stations in Tahlequah and Stilwell, the first in eastern Oklahoma.
• Selection as a Fulbright Scholar to advance American higher education values in the Middle East; Chair of Creative Oklahoma, Inc.; president of the North American Council to the International Association of University Presidents of which he is also a member of the Executive Committee; Chair of the International Education Committee of the America Association of State Colleges & Universities; Chair of the Northeast Oklahoma Public Facility Authority; board member for BancFirst in Tahlequah; President of the Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce; chair of the Regional University System of Oklahoma Council of Presidents; a member of the Oklahoma Academy, Leadership Oklahoma, and a member of the Colleges Presidents Climate Committee.

Betz began his career at NSU in 1971 and during the next 23 years he served in various capacities, including the Vice President of University Relations and Professor of Political Science. While at NSU, he also was the Executive Director of the Educational Foundation, Assistant to the President, Dean of Continuing Education and Special Programs, Director of the Sequoyah Institute/Center for Tribal Studies, the founder and advisor of the universitys Presidents Leadership Class and its Model United Nations program. Throughout his career, he has taught thousands of students.

From 1999 to July 2005 he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Oklahoma. From 1994-99, he served as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa. President Betz resumed his association with NSU, where he began his academic career, after serving as Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls from 2005-08.

From 1982 through 2003, Betz worked for and with the United Nations on Middle East issues. He founded and chaired the International Coordinating Committee on the Question of Palestine (ICCP), a UN-affiliated non-governmental organization (NGO) network pursuing peace in the Middle East based on UN resolutions. His extensive international experience includes service with the University of Pittsburghs Semester-at-Sea, Chapman Colleges World Campus Afloat, and journalistic experience in the Middle East. His life-long interest in global issues and his passion for promoting cross-cultural understanding led him to over 80 countries.

His many accomplishments include serving as president of Leadership Oklahoma, a board member for the Educators Leadership Academy, Great Expectations, the Oklahoma A+ Whole School Reform Program, the Edmond Economic Development Authority, the DaVinci Institute, Life University and the awards selection committee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Since 2002, Betz has been a member of the founding implementation committee for AASCUs American Democracy Project. In 1991 he received the Medal of Excellence in University Teaching from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.

President Betz received his B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of San Francisco and his M.A. and Ph.D. in International Studies from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He completed Harvard Universitys Institute for Educational Management (IEM).