Kiplinger's Rates Baylor Among Top 50 Best Private College Values

Baylor has been ranked as one of the nation's Top 50 "Best Values in Private Colleges" in the April 2008 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

Using a ranking system that measured academic quality and affordability, Kiplinger's rated Baylor overall as the 38th "best value" among the nation's most prestigious private colleges. In the area of "total cost" for an academic year (including tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books), Baylor was the nation's second most affordable school on Kiplinger's Top 50 list.

Baylor bested other top universities including Carnegie Mellon, Miami, Syracuse, George Washington, Boston and NYU. Baylor also was one of only three Texas universities to make the top 50.
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Successful New Bond Issue

All of us have been hearing about the sub-prime loan crisis and the extent to which it has negatively impacted our economy. Many non-profits with outstanding bond debt have recently refinanced and reissued bonds to acquire more favorable interest rates. Baylor has done the same.

In the past, Baylor had never obtained a rating from one of the rating agencies (Standard and Poor's, Moody's, or Fitch) but instead relied on the protection of our bond insurer, a standard practice for many non-profits, but now the insurers are in trouble. As a result, we have worked with the rating agencies to acquire a bond rating for Baylor and were pleased to receive a long-term rating of AA- with stable outlook from both Standard and Poor's and Fitch on these bonds.

One of the rating agencies noted the University's "sustained track record of healthy operating performance and liquidity; strong student demand and competitive academic profile; and an experienced management team which possesses a solid planning and financial/investment management background."

Based on the advice of our bond counsel and financial advisors, we are now refinancing all of our bonds. Baylor yesterday issued $112 million of fixed long-term bonds to refinance approximately 40% of the current outstanding bonds. This was the first time that Baylor has issued long-term fixed-rate bonds that could be purchased by the public. Previously, Baylor's bonds were variable-rate demand bonds bought almost exclusively by money managers and institutional investors. The market reception to Baylor's first public bond issue was exceptional with requests for our bonds totaling more than $600 million.

The strength of Baylor's market reception was attributed by Lehman Brothers, the underwriter, to the recognition of the Baylor name, coupled with the fact that this was the first time the public was able to buy Baylor bonds. The second phase of Baylor's bond refinancing will occur next Tuesday when the remaining bonds will be replaced.

The refinancing of our existing bonds will have no impact on next year's operating budget.

Books By Baylor Faculty Earn 2008 CT Book Awards

Christianity Today has recognized three Baylor professors as recipients of its annual CT Book Awards. Books written by professors Roger E. Olson, Thomas S. Kidd and Rodney Stark received Award of Merit recognition. In addition, Baylor graduate D. Michael Lindsay, assistant professor of sociology at Rice University, won a CT Best Book Award.

Of 359 titles nominated, 10 were selected as winners and 11 selected for the Award of Merit as "outstanding volumes that shed light on people, events and ideas that shape evangelical life, thought and mission." Baylor faculty had three of the 21 books so honored, setting a high mark of distinction.
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Baylor Project Preserves African-American Gospel Music

The Baylor Libraries' Gospel Music Restoration Project was featured on the front page of the Dallas Morning News on March 23. The article highlights the work of Robert Darden, journalism professor and music historian, who is in the midst of an effort to preserve the golden age of gospel music recorded on records from 1940 to 1970.

Transferring this music from old technology to the new digital age at Baylor will give future generations access to this rich part of American culture. The Dallas Morning News story also features a companion video component.
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Apple Inc. To Feature Baylor Libraries Computer Setup

Apple Inc. was on campus this week to produce a 3-4 minute promotional video profiling the Electronic Library's implementation of dual-boot Mac computers in student computer facilities on campus. The film will be featured on the Apple Higher Ed site to represent best practices.

The dual-boot Macs are configured with both the Windows XP and Mac OS 10.4 operating systems and allow users to choose their operating system with a single click at startup. Using dual-boot Macs allows Baylor to respond to the growing base of Mac users on campus while maintaining services for the large number of Windows users.

Francis Collins Speech To Be Rescheduled

It was unfortunate that weather-related travel problems forced the cancellation of the presentation by Francis S. Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health and author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. We are working on rescheduling his visit to campus.

Spring Steppin' Out On Saturday

Steppin' Out is a program providing service to the greater Waco community through a large-scale volunteer service day once each semester. This Saturday, hundreds of Baylor students, staff and faculty will utilize their hands to demonstrate the heart of the Baylor family for our friends and neighbors in Waco.
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Athletics Update

Men's 4x400-meter Relay Team Wins Third-Straight National Title
The Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay won its third-straight national championship with a world-leading time of 3:05.66 at the recent 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Congratulations to these outstanding student athletes.

Basketball Season Ends
Congratulations to both our basketball teams for their success. This year marks the first time the Baylor men's and women's basketball teams have ever made the NCAA Tournament in the same season. It has been 20 years since our men's team was last selected, while this was the fifth straight year for our Lady Bears.

Home Games This week

Baseball vs. Kansas
Friday and Saturday, April 4-5, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 6, 1 p.m., Baylor Ballpark

Softball vs. Kansas
Saturday, April 5, 4 p.m.
Sunday, April 6, 12 noon, Getterman Stadium

Football Spring Game Green vs. Gold
Saturday, April 5, 4 p.m., Floyd Casey Stadium