President's Note

The semester is off to a good start, including Saturday's football victory. Congratulations to Coach Art Briles on a wonderful win. I understand that last weekend marked the first time in conference history that every Big 12 team was victorious.

I want to express my thanks to everyone who volunteered with Move-In at the start of our semester. The help you provided blessed thousands of parents, ensuring them that their sons and daughters would be well cared for at Baylor and introducing them to some of what makes Baylor such a unique and special place.

I also want to thank the staff and faculty who are participating in the University 1000 classes. Research has shown that the first six weeks of a young person's collegiate career are critically important to retention as students begin to make new friends and connect to their university. Your efforts to help students transition successfully to Baylor have a direct impact on the retention of these students as soon as the spring semester.

New Faculty

At our fall meeting we welcomed 66 new full time faculty. They received their terminal degrees from such institutions as Princeton, USC, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Florida, California, Emory, Connecticut, Alaska, Texas, Texas A&M, Iowa, Kansas State, Indiana, and SMU, along with several with their most recent degrees from Baylor.

What attracts most new faculty to Baylor is that it is a place that embodies excellence in research and teaching in a community of faith. In fact, the opportunity to pursue their research interests and academic excellence at an institution that embraces them as people of faith is frequently mentioned during interviews as something that sets Baylor above other institutions with whom we compete for these outstanding scholars.

New Faculty Center Opens

Baylor's new McMullen-Connally Faculty Center opened for business this semester. This beautiful new facility was made possible by the generous gift from Faber McMullen and his wife Roxanna Connally McMullen, both Baylor alums.

The new facility replaces Harrington House, which began serving as Baylor's first faculty center in 1974. The new building is larger for both regular dining as well as for special events.

In addition, the McMullen Family Collection -- a personal collection of more than 200 pieces of art and artifacts from around the world -- is showcased throughout the building. An art conservation room allows for proper care and maintenance of the pieces, which will be rotated several times per year.

This is a wonderful new addition to the campus, and is one that faculty should truly enjoy.

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• Faculty Center

Regents Set Tuition for 2009-2010

The Board of Regents has set tuition and fees for the 2009-10 academic year.

Regents have voted to increase tuition by 7 percent next year to $25,320 for 12 hours or more for the fall 2009 and spring 2010 academic year. The general student fee will increase 7.02 percent to $2,590 for next year. Room and board rates for undergraduates will increase by 6 percent and 4.77 percent, respectively.

In total, a freshman entering Baylor in fall 2009 will pay 6.67 percent more in tuition, fees, room and board than a freshman entering this year. Compared to other private institutions, Baylor's tuition and required fees continue to remain lower than the university's peer private institutions in Texas and well below those of most private universities outside of Texas.

Tuition for graduate students in 2009-10 will increase by 7 percent. Tuition for George W. Truett Theological Seminary students will increase by 6.57 percent and Baylor Law School students by 6.45 percent.

The tuition increase will help generate the resources necessary to support Baylor's current operations in the coming year, as well as provide for new faculty and staff hires and improved compensation levels consistent with Baylor 2012.

The budget also will ensure access to a Baylor education for families and students who demonstrate financial need. Baylor's total scholarships for 2009-10 will increase $9.09 million to more than $108 million, which includes a 38.7 percent increase in need-based scholarships for freshmen who enter Baylor in fall 2009.

Of incoming freshmen entering the university in the fall and who qualified for need-based financial assistance, Baylor provided on average more than 50 percent of the students' need in direct scholarships. With financial aid packages that included federal loans and work-study, the university was able to meet on average approximately 70 percent of these students' total financial need.

The announcement of our tuition increase comes on the same day that we mark the twelfth class day for the fall semester. The twelfth day of class is traditionally the day when colleges and universities consider their fall enrollment numbers "official." This year, we welcome a remarkably talented freshman class and our overall enrollment numbers speak to the popularity of a Baylor education.

Our freshman class numbers 3,062. This is the second largest freshman class in Baylor history. The students' average SAT score of 1210 represents the third consecutive year that incoming Baylor freshmen have averaged more than 1200 on their test scores. What's more, minority enrollment among this year's class stands at a record 31 percent. Over a three-year period, Baylor's minority freshman enrollment has increased 30 percent. During the same period, enrollment among Hispanic students has increased by 40 percent.

With the addition of these talented young men and women, the University's overall enrollment is 14,541. This represents the largest student enrollment ever at Baylor.

Overall in fall 2008, Baylor has enrolled:

• 12,162 undergraduates, the first time since 2001 that the undergraduate population has topped 12,000;
  
• a record 1,369 graduate students (the previous high enrollment of 1,297 grad students occurred in fall 2004);
  
• 423 students in the School of Law; and
  
• a record 406 students in Truett Seminary (the previous record of 402 students was set last fall).

IF&L Change

Doug Henry has chosen to step back into a full-time faculty role after seven years as director of the Baylor Institute for Faith and Learning. Doug has served extremely well in this position, providing leadership that has resulted in a strong and vibrant program at Baylor. I want to take this opportunity to thank Doug for his hard work and service. I also want to tell you that Doug leaves the program in very good hands as associate director Darin Davis has agreed to assume the duties of interim director until we complete a national search for Doug's replacement. Doug will continue in his role as faculty in residence in Brooks College.

Texas Choirmaster Award

Donald Bailey was recently presented the Texas Choirmaster award, the most prestigious award given by the Texas Choral Directors Association. This highest honor by TCDA is given to a person who has "exhibited unparalleled leadership in the choral field and is a consummate conductor and musician."

Donald recently retired as the Director of Choral Activities and the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Music at Baylor, where he taught choral conducting and also conducted the A Cappella Choir, Chamber Singers and Choral Union.

In its 53-year history, TCDA has awarded the Texas Choirmaster Award to 10 conductors. With Donald's selection, Baylor now has three of the 10 recipients, including past honorees Euell Porter and Hugh Sanders, who each served as Director of Choral Activities in the Baylor School of Music.

Football Game Moved to Friday

Baylor has moved its football game against Washington State up to Friday, Sept. 12, and will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CDT in order to avoid complications caused by the approach of Hurricane Ike to the Texas Coast this weekend.