Bernie Patterson became vice president for academic affairs on August
1, 2002. In 2003, the university’s board of trustees created the
position of university provost and appointed Patterson as the
university’s first provost.
Patterson holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts in criminology from State
University of New York at Albany, an Education Specialist degree and a
Master of Science from Central Missouri State University, and a Bachelor
of Science in Technology from Missouri Western State University.
At Oklahoma City University, Patterson has focused on strengthening the system of shared governance at the university by proposing to the faculty senate the establishment of a faculty-majority academic council, and working with the university president to add a faculty member and a student as voting members of the university’s board of trustees. He has also established the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the Office of International Education, the Office of Instructional Technology, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and the Fine Arts Institute. Other initiatives include the university’s strategic and tactical plan, campus master plan, assessment plan, summer reading program for incoming first-year students, enrollment management programs to increase enrollment and retention of students, faculty fellow program, visiting scholars program, national student scholar development coordinator, Phi Kappa Phi chapter, and a focus on faculty recruitment including an emphasis on faculty diversity.
Patterson came to Oklahoma City University from the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia College and State University, where he had been dean since 1994. He guided the college through a critical period of transition as the university refocused its mission, becoming Georgia’s public liberal arts institution. Other initiatives in Georgia included expansion of the arts across the university and beyond, including an annual summer arts festival, arts after school program for at-risk middle school students, and production of two jazz CDs; extensive interdisciplinary studies program, including nine interdisciplinary general education courses; and several student recruitment and retention programs, including service learning, cluster courses, and undergraduate research and creative projects. Previously, he was assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Valdosta State University, where he began his career in higher education as an instructor in 1977.
In 2000, Patterson received the Powell-Whipple Collaboration Award for his work in bringing together the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and master teachers in their joint mission of preparing future teachers. In 2001, Patterson was asked to co-direct two national seminars for academic department chairs. He currently serves as a consultant-evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. His research, publications, and conference presentations have focused on collaborations between arts and sciences and education, crime victimization of middle and senior high school students, job stress among criminal justice professionals, and public agency consolidation. He has testified as an expert witness in several criminal prosecutions regarding the validity of eyewitness identification.
Patterson’s professional activities include the Institute for Educational Management (class of 2000) at Harvard University, a Wye Faculty Fellowship at the Aspen Institute, and a Fulbright tour in Tanzania, Africa, in 1992. He has led or participated in state-level international delegations to Belize, the Czech Republic, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Ukraine, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Patterson currently oversees academic programs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tianjin (PRC), and Vancouver.
Patterson has a daughter, Susan, who majored in finance and now attends law school. His leisure activities are horticulture and boating.