Brandon Tatum, Stitt's chief of staff, picked to lead the Regional University System of Oklahoma

Brandon Tatum, the chief of staff for Gov. Kevin Stitt, will serve as the next executive director of the Regional University System of Oklahoma, RUSO regents announced Monday.

RUSO, as it’s commonly known, oversees six public universities — Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, East Central University in Ada and the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Combined, they have more than 40,000 students, making RUSO the largest four-year university system in Oklahoma.

Regents approved Tatum’s hiring during a meeting last week, and he will begin in his new role on Aug. 1. Tatum succeeds Sheridan McCaffree, who started with RUSO as general counsel in 1993 before becoming its executive director in 2004. The executive director serves as the chief executive officer of the RUSO Board of Regents and as a liaison between the regents and the university presidents.

“Brandon has served Oklahoma well, and I’m excited for this next step in his journey,” Stitt said in a statement. “He believes in the mission of making Oklahoma a Top Ten state in everything we do and knows that a strong university system in our state is an important part of that. I know he will do great things at RUSO and will continue to work to align our education systems with our state’s workforce needs.”

Much of Tatum’s professional experience has been in private education. He’s worked as Stitt’s chief of staff since November 2022, coming from Oklahoma Christian University, a private school in Oklahoma City. He was OC's executive vice president and chief strategy officer starting in 2019. Before working at OC, Tatum spent seven years as the president of Oklahoma Christian Academy in Edmond and served as the executive director of the National Christian School Association.

In a 2017 column written for The Christian Chronicle, an Oklahoma City-based newspaper covering Churches of Christ, Tatum lamented what he called an “unfortunate separation” between public schools and Christian schools.

“I believe that the differences between public and Christian education today can be summed up by one word: freedom,” he wrote. “Both desire excellence. Both seek to utilize best practices and good sense in their classrooms. But Christian schools have the freedom to educate children without the restrictions and mandates often imposed on public schools by legislators, politicians, and lobbyist groups. In Christian schools, we’re allowed to teach students free from many of these constraints.”

Workforce development has been a focus of Tatum's previous work

At OC, Tatum led initiatives designed to address workforce shortages by partnering with industry to prepare students for the workforce, a key area of focus for RUSO. Studies done by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education indicate about 85% of graduates of RUSO institutions remain in Oklahoma five years after graduation.

“Dr. Tatum’s extensive experience in higher education and government made him a clear choice among the hundreds of candidates we had apply for this position,” said Jane McDermott, the chair of the RUSO Board of Regents. “RUSO universities contribute heavily to preparing our state’s students for the future of work, and I am confident we will continue to align our programs to our state’s pressing industry and workforce needs under Dr. Tatum’s leadership.”

Tatum received his doctoral degree in organizational leadership from Abilene Christian University in Texas. He formerly served on the governor’s education transition committee, focused on personalized learning and innovation, and was a Stitt appointee on the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. He resigned that position in November 2022 after becoming Stitt’s chief of staff.

“I am excited to continue to serve the state of Oklahoma in this capacity,” Tatum said. “The Regional University System has done an amazing job of preparing students for the workforce and making sure their curriculum aligns with industry needs."

Whoever succeeds Tatum as Stitt’s chief of staff will be the fifth person to serve in that role since Stitt became governor in 2019. Stitt’s first chief of staff, Michael Junk, had worked for Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and two U.S. senators, giving the new governor the perspective of a political veteran.

In 2020, Stitt replaced Junk with Bond Payne, an Oklahoma City businessman, after the governor had fought with fellow Republicans in the Legislature over the budget, which they passed despite his veto.

Zachary Lee served as an interim chief of staff from August 2022 until Tatum started in that role that November.