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  • What they’re saying about Baylor reaching R1 recognition

    // Posted In Academics, Honors, Research

    Baylor is now an R1 institution

    Yesterday, the Baylor Family far and wide celebrated the announcement that Baylor had joined the top-tier of American research universities as an “R1” research institution. Baylor is now recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Learning as a doctoral university with “very high research activity” — one of just 137 such institutions nationally to reach this level.

    Perhaps most notably, as President Livingstone said in her email to the Baylor Family, it’s an accomplishment that “very few, if any, universities have achieved: maintaining our foundational Christian mission while reaching R1 status as a top-tier research university.”

    We’ve had a lot to celebrate at Baylor this year — most obviously, the men’s basketball national title and football’s Big 12 championship — but it was fun to (again) see the Baylor Family celebrating this news on social media yesterday.

    Not surprisingly, Baylor professors were among the first to share the news:

    But it’s not just faculty and staff who helped Baylor get here — it’s students, too, as Baylor’s Graduate Student Association highlighted:

    Alumni (whose degrees just got a little bit more valuable with Baylor’s climb) were feeling extra proud:

    Others put the academic achievement in context with Baylor’s athletic success:

    Speaking of Athletics…

    Beyond the Baylor family, media outlets such as the Houston Chronicle, Texas Tribune, Baptist News Global and Waco Tribune-Herald shared the news widely.

    In all, it’s an incredible accomplishment, made possible by so many people. In some ways, it’s been an effort many years in the making, dating decades back to the launch of Vision 2012; in other ways, it’s been a very fast move, coming just two years after Baylor officially announced its R1 pursuit. And all while maintaining Baylor’s Christian mission and vision.

    Notably — as President Livingstone wrote — this achievement is not a finish line, but a benchmark on the way to more: “Today is not the end of our journey, but rather a significant step in a trajectory in which we will continue to elevate the quality and impact of our educational and research endeavors. Today, let us give thanks to God and join together to celebrate this monumental achievement.”

    Sic ’em, Baylor University, an R1 institution!