Baylor 2012 « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Baylor 2012

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Stewards of God’s gifts

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris, Student life

Baylor commencement All over the nation, the price of a college education has gone up dramatically in recent years. Much of that increase reflects growth in student services and amenities, such as updated dorm rooms, food courts, workout facilities, etc., greater access to state-of-the-art technology and labs, and high levels of personal attention from advisers and counselors.

The bottom line of all this, however, is that the cost of a college education places a significant burden on students and their families. In an effort to help keep a Baylor education accessible to students of all walks of life, the university has made increasing scholarship offerings a primary goal.

In the last year and a half, the President’s Scholarship Initiative has raised nearly $50 million that will endow student scholarships, providing funds to ease the financial burden of higher education in perpetuity. In addition, the university provides more than $130 million in institutional scholarships each year — more than three times the amount provided just 10 years ago.

The draft strategic plan emphasizes this need, describing the need for all associated with Baylor — from administrators to alumni — to be good stewards of God’s gifts. We must be “ever-vigilant” about monitoring our costs, the draft reads, and at the same time continue working to increase the degree to which those costs can be met by endowed scholarships.

Most of us received some sort of aid that helped pay for our time at Baylor; we can pay that forward to the students of today and tomorrow by giving to the President’s Scholarship Initiative. Every dollar counts; even with most budgets stretched tight, chances are we can each find a few dollars by skipping a couple of Starbucks visits or a night dining out with the family. Let’s help the students of tomorrow continue to find their extraordinary stories here at Baylor.

Sic ’em, scholarship providers!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Baylor named a ‘Best Buy’ for sixth straight year (July 2011)
* Even in death, alum’s dream of reaching children lives on through scholarship fund (June 2011)
* Baylor women hosting home tour to raise scholarship funds for BU students (Feb. 2011)
* Starr calls Baylor Nation to support $100 million student scholarship initiative (Sept. 2010)

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Attracting World Leaders

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris, Student life

Baylor in China University President Ken Starr has often remarked that as the world has grown smaller, the “Pro Texana” part of Baylor’s motto can no longer mean just “for Texas” or “for the state.” It must reach further; today’s Baylor students will impact not only the Texas of tomorrow, but the United States and even the world.

Hundreds of Baylor alumni live outside the U.S., and hundreds more of our current students are getting to experience a brief taste of what that’s like through international programs. That may mean a week-long mission trip, a summer abroad, or an entire semester spent in an exchange program.

In the past decade, the number of international opportunities available to Baylor students has nearly doubled, from 50 in 2001 to around 100 the last several years. Participation in study abroad programs has fluctuated with the economy, but overall is up 35 percent from 2001 to 2010 and peaked at 1,053 students in 2007. And that doesn’t even include the hundreds of students who have gone overseas on university-sponsored mission trips.

Such experiences without a doubt increase Baylor students’ “desire for wisdom, understanding of calling, and preparation for service in an interconnected global society,” as Aspirational Statement One of the draft strategic plan reads.

Sic ’em, world leaders of tomorrow!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Social work’s Global Mission Leadership to move ahead thanks to generous gift (Dec. 2011)
* Summer mission trips: 100s of Baylor students head out as research validates trips’ effects (May 2011)
* Alum moves from Baylor to the highest levels of Jordan’s government (Jan. 2011)
* U.S. Dept. of State puts recent Baylor grad on fast track to foreign service (Nov. 2010)
* International honors allow Baylor students to continue studies overseas (April 2010)
* As headquarters, Baylor leads global computer science competition (March 2010)
* Alum in Scotland reaches out to students overseas at Thanksgiving (Dec. 2008)

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Students of Faith

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Baylor 2012, Faith, Pro Futuris, Student life

Baylor resident chaplain A decade ago, the Baylor chaplain’s office began placing students from Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary into residence halls to serve as “resident chaplains” — pastors-in-training who are available 24/7 to talk about not just theology but personal struggles, relationship issues, and all the other ups and downs that 18- to 22-year-olds can experience.

Today, each of Baylor’s 12 residence halls includes a resident chaplain who is given a stipend and an apartment in the hall. In turn, the seminary students serve that hall’s students in a role somewhere between pastor, parent, friend and older sibling. That may mean leading Bible studies, talking faith over coffee, or helping students deal with tragedy, be it a failing grade, broken relationship or loss of a loved one.

“The resident chaplain program is, I think, one of the most important things that Baylor has done in the last 10 years in terms of spiritual formation,” said Brett Gibson, BA ’02, MDiv ’09, a resident chaplain from 2006-09, in a 2008 Baylor Magazine article. “Baylor is wanting to maintain that Christian identity, and I think placing resident chaplains in these residence halls really gives them a voice in helping give them the opportunity to have those conversations about what it means to be not just a really good doctor, but what it means to be a doctor who follows Christ, or what it means to be a lawyer who follows Christ. How can I put those things together? I think the resident chaplain program and what we are freed to be able to do in that position fosters that kind of conversation that wouldn’t be happening otherwise.”

Sic ’em, resident chaplains!

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Celebrating where we’ve been and where we’re going

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris, Videos

In accepting the 2011 Heisman Trophy, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III told the world, “Baylor we are, and Baylor we will always be. But it’s up to us to define what that means.”

So what is Baylor? As we conclude one long-term plan (Baylor 2012) and begin another new strategic plan, this is a good time to celebrate who and what we are. Sure, we know the usual descriptors — the largest Baptist university in the world, the oldest continuously operating university in Texas, etc. — but Baylor is so much more than that, as the video below explores.

Baylor. We are … Students of faith. A caring community. Discovering new truths. World leaders. Passionate teachers. Winning with integrity. A family. The list could go on and on, and over the next few months, we’ll from time to time use this space to highlight many such characteristics that make Baylor Baylor.

Sic ’em, Bears!

[Don't forget -- the deadline for final feedback on the draft strategic plan is March 31, and the earlier you get your thoughts in, the better. Go here for more on why and how to share your feedback.]

Feb

2012

Truett Seminary celebrates 10 years on Baylor’s main campus

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Faith

Ten years ago this week, more than 1,000 guests attended the official dedication of George W. Truett Seminary’s new Baugh-Reynolds Campus. The new facility brought pastoral education back to the main Baylor campus for the first time since 1910, when Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (which began as Baylor Theological Seminary) left Waco for Fort Worth.

From its opening in the fall of 1994 until January 2002, Truett Seminary was graciously housed by First Baptist Church of Waco, continuing that congregation’s long affiliation with Baylor. But the new facility allowed students and professors to settle into a home of their own. The campus was named for John and Eula Mae Baugh, who provided a lead gift for construction, and former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds, MS ’58, PhD ’61, who was at the helm of the university when the seminary was established.

The seminary itself is named for George W. Truett, AB 1897, whom Reynolds at the dedication called “the greatest Baptist statesman of the 20th century.” After helping raise significant funding that helped save Baylor from financial ruin in the 1890s, Truett graduated from Baylor in 1897. That fall, he was named pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, a role he would hold until his death in 1944, almost 50 years later.

Today, Truett is a thriving Baptist seminary of approximately 350 students, its education focused on small, seminar-style classes. Over the past 17 years, Truett has graduated more than 900 men and women who now serve in ministry positions across 40 states and 19 countries. Its home is easily visible to motorists on the nearby interstate, illustrating Baylor’s commitment to educating the spiritual leaders of tomorrow.

Sic ’em, Truett Seminary!

Feb

2012

Final call issued for Baylor family’s input on new strategic plan

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris, Student life

Sticky note For more than a year, Baylor leaders have been collecting and analyzing input from every part of the Baylor family in an effort to compile a new strategic plan for the university, aimed at building on the firm foundation laid over the past century and a half and highlighted by 10 years of unprecedented progress following the Baylor 2012 vision launched a decade ago.

That planning process is nearly complete. A draft of the plan was released for feedback in November, distributed in the winter issue of Baylor Magazine and posted on the university website. Members of the Baylor family — alumni, students, faculty/staff, parents and friends of the university — are encouraged to go online and share any final thoughts on the plan between now and the end of March.

[READ & RESPOND: Click here to review the draft of Baylor's new strategic plan and to share feedback before the March 31 deadline.]

Baylor administrators, led by Provost Elizabeth Davis, BBA ’84, will review any feedback received and make last-minute tweaks to the plan in time to present it to the Board of Regents at its meeting in mid May. Assuming the Board approves the plan at that time, it would then be implemented beginning in June.

[WATCH: An explanation of the planning process from Dr. Elizabeth Davis, BBA '84, Baylor executive vice president and provost, who has led the planning process]

After reading the plan linked above, if you have any thoughts (including suggestions for a name besides “the new strategic plan”), please do fill out the feedback form on the strategic plan website. This is sort of the “speak now or forever hold your peace” moment for this plan, so let Dr. Davis and others know what you think.

Sic ’em, Baylor family!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* University leaders ask for Baylor family’s input on BU’s future through Community Input Sessions (Jan. 2011)
* Baylor leaders call on BU family to reflect before engaging in planning the next 10 years (Nov. 2010)

Oct

2011

Building a connection between Waco and Japan

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Honors

Green and gold textile print Baylor students can take as many as nine classes in Japanese, from Introductory Japanese to Japanese Civilization. The university does not yet offer a major in Japanese, but you wouldn’t know it for all the honors Baylor students are earning in the subject.

A year and a half ago, it was Houston native Rachel McCutchen winning the Dallas Regional Japanese Language Speech Contest and placing second at the state level. In January, McCutchen and another student, China Spring’s Katherine Farley, were the first Baylor students inducted into the Japanese Honor Society College Chapter.

This summer, Connecticut native Andrew Leistensnider, a junior University Scholar with emphasis in economics, attended the selective Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) across the Pacific and was elected to the JASC’s executive committee. Since the 1930s, the JASC has brought together delegations of American and Japanese students in order to develop relations between the U.S. and Japan.

Leistensnider is one of eight Americans who will partner with eight students from Japan to plan next year’s conference. “As an executive committee, we build our program from scratch and make it unique and give it a theme,” he says. “Then we invite the delegates to come into the space that we built and give them a place to take their leadership and use the opportunities we give them to become leaders and make it (the conference) their own.”

Next year’s conference will visit four sites in the U.S.; two of those, Dallas and Madison, Wisc., have already been selected. Baylor Japanese Professor Yuko Prefume noted that Dallas’ proximity to Baylor could allow the delegates to visit Baylor on a day trip — “a great opportunity to introduce how great Baylor is to both American and Japanese students,” she says.

Sic ’em, Andrew!

Sep

2011

Baylor Religion Survey results again draw national media attention to BU’s strong work

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Honors, Research

Whether you get your news from a national publication like USA Today, a website like The Huffington Post, a Christian media outlet such as The Baptist Standard, or a local newspaper like the Houston Chronicle, chances are good you’ve seen a headline about the Baylor Religion Survey this week.

The third wave of results from the survey — one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on American religious attitudes — was just released by Baylor researchers, and like 2006 and 2008, it’s gathering strong attention from the media.

One of the more intriguing findings in this year’s results involved the effects of religious attitudes on one’s political and economic views. USA Today ran three different stories Tuesday (here, here and here) — two of them in their “Money” section. The HuffPost headline noted, “Believers Keep Faith in American Dream Despite Recession.” The Washington Post headline read, “Many Americans see God’s hand in economy.” (To read more of the news coverage, click here.)

As a tier-one institution built on a foundation of Christian faith, Baylor holds a distinct place in higher education, and groundbreaking work such as the Baylor Religion Survey should and does come from that position. As we’ve noted before, media attention like this shines a light on not only Baylor sociology, but on all the outstanding work being performed here.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

Sep

2011

Baylor matches best-ever ranking from U.S. News, tops 15,000 enrollment for first time

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Honors

Baylor graduation The latest U.S. News “Best Colleges” report came out yesterday, and Baylor is up four spots to No. 75, matching its highest-ever ranking. BU again comes in third in the Big 12 and among the top five in Texas, closing the gap on its nearest in-state competitor.

Official Fall 2011 enrollment numbers came out Tuesday as well, and for the first time, Baylor’s total enrollment has topped 15,000. Moreover, the new class of 3,033 freshmen (culled from nearly 39,000 applicants) bring the best average SAT score (1236) and ACT score (27) in school history.

Diversity among the student body remains high, as well; for the fourth straight year, minority enrollment among Baylor’s freshman class is above 30 percent. Those numbers will likely keep Baylor the second-most diverse student body in the Big 12.

Add to these numbers top-25 rankings for football and basketball, a distinctly recognized curriculum and culture of service, best-buy status for the sixth straight year, etc., and one must seriously consider: Has there ever been a better time to be a Baylor student?

Sic ’em, Bears!

Aug

2011

Baylor one of just 19 schools nationwide to earn an ‘A’ for its core curriculum

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Honors

Baylor graduation A recent survey found that 70% of Americans believe colleges should require their students to take basic courses in core subjects. Yet one report found that fewer than 2% of colleges and universities in the U.S. require even six of the top seven core subjects (composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. government/history, economics, math, and science).

Among those 2%? Yep — Baylor University.

Baylor was one of 19 institutions nationwide to earn an “A” for its core curriculum from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, based on exactly that fact — the university’s dedication to providing a well-rounded education.

No other college in the Big 12 earned that distinction. Besides Baylor, the short list of “A” schools includes Georgia, Pepperdine, Air Force and West Point. Interestingly, only five of the 19 schools are larger than BU, and only one other school (UGA) belongs to a BCS conference.

Sic ’em, Baylor!

Points of Pride — Baylor 2012

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