Looking Back Over a Year of Progress

On June 1, 2017, Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. took the helm of Baylor University as its 15th President. With the partnership of fellow faculty
and staff, the energy of a diverse student body, the support of a gifted Board, and the commitment of dedicated alumni, parents and friends, President Livingstone has led the University to meet benchmarks in key performance indicators of enrollment, philanthropy and finances and to renew our focus on the academic enterprise upon which our Christian mission is built.
An emphasis on building the University’s
leadership capacity included the hiring of several key administrative positions and strengthening the structure and governance model for our Board of Regents. Additionally, the University is operationally sound and in good standing with our accrediting body.

Among the many highlights of the year, we:

• Resolved many investigations related to past reports of sexual violence. This includes the external verification of the completion and sustainability of the 105 recommendations for improvement and securing the removal of Baylor’s accreditation warning status by SACSCOC following a comprehensive review by a special committee from the organization.
• Engaged in open and transparent communication with the Baylor Family. Launched the Baylor Conversation Series in key markets across the state and country and on campus to provide an update on the University’s state of affairs, introduce Illuminate, the University’s Academic Strategic Plan, and provide an opportunity to resolve ongoing questions. Conversation Events were recorded and are posted on the President’s webpage. Also initiated a weekly Presidential Perspectives email to reinforce open communication on campus. This is also posted publicly on the President’s webpage.
• Reorganized the previous Division of
  Constituent Engagement to form a more traditional alumni relations model under a comprehensive Division of Advancement. Also developed a new Office of External Affairs under the Division of Marketing & Communications to strengthen and better coordinate relationships with the City of Waco and other external partners.
• Enhanced the University’s relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas through engagement with the organization’s leadership team and returned to a model of campus ministry where the Baptist Student Ministry is a chartered religious organization under the leadership of a new full-time director. Throughout the course of the year, sent more than 800 members of the Baylor Family, including 700 students, on mission trips, with five teams focused on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
• Completed, analyzed and published the results of the University’s Social Climate Survey (i.e., Title IX survey) and the University’s Academic and Work Environment Survey (i.e., diversity survey) to the campus community and online and identified strategies
  to improve in areas of need.
• Completed the Five-Year Institutional Goals outlined in Phase 1 of Pro Futuris and developed Illuminate, the academic strategic plan that will power Phase 2 of our vision. Building on the aspirations in Pro Futuris, the strategic vision Baylor adopted in 2012, Illuminate is structured on four foundational pillars of the University:
  
  • Unambiguously Christian educational environment;
  • Transformational undergraduate education;
  • Research and scholarship marked by quality, impact and visibility; and
  • Nationally recognized programs in human performance through the arts and athletics

Illuminate features five multidisciplinary Signature Academic Initiatives that focus on key challenges facing society today: Health, Data Sciences, Materials Science, Human Flourishing and Ethics, and Baylor in Latin America. These initiatives will amplify and expand our Christian commitment and position Baylor for leadership in fields of national importance. More than 60 members of our faculty responded to Vice Provost Gary Carini’s request to participate in the design teams for the implementation of Illuminate. These experts in areas such as creativity, systems thinking, group dynamics, process modeling, networks and community will play a significant role in authoring the process for moving the academic strategic plan forward.

• Launched a comprehensive effort to grow the University’s graduate professional education under a newly established Vice Provost and incentives for the colleges and schools to initiate such financially advantageous programs. Also the Chief Operating Officer position was restructured to a Chief Business Officer position with business development responsibility focused on creating revenue growth opportunities from the University’s non academic assets.
• Launched the “Where Lights Shine Bright”
  brand reintroduction campaign in January 2018 and executed a comprehensive external media strategy focused on prospective high school juniors and seniors, as well as their mothers, to assist in securing the incoming freshman classes for 2018 and 2019.
• Completed a campaign feasibility study and developed the foundational components for the launch of a comprehensive fundraising campaign in the fall of 2018.

The past year has charted a course for the future of Baylor that will ensure it continues to stand apart as a Christian research university and pursues greater levels of academic excellence that produces graduates with the wisdom, innovation, and leadership skills required to make a difference in the world.