President's Note

We had an excellent fall faculty meeting Wednesday. It was a good opportunity for us to come together at the start of the academic year and the presentations were exceptional. Elizabeth Davis and I appreciated the opportunity to address faculty and I enjoyed very much Charles Tolbert's report on the Waco community survey and Reagan Ramsower's presentation of our financial position as we begin the fall semester. It was also a pleasure to recognize and welcome to the Baylor family our new faculty members who bring outstanding credentials and great enthusiasm to our campus.

Baylor's Investment Officer honored

An industry publication has recognized Baylor's new chief investment officer as a "rising star" among investment professionals. Kent Muckel joined the Baylor staff on May 1, having most recently served as senior portfolio manager of the University of Colorado Foundation.

Institutional Investor News has named Kent as one of its 2009 Rising Stars of Foundation and Endowments. He will be presented the award next month at a national meeting in San Diego. Wise management of the university's endowment is important to the future as we look for ways to increase scholarship support for students and fund other programs. We are pleased to have Kent on our staff and we congratulate him on this great honor.

Fall schedule packed with academic events

I encourage you to take advantage of the many events that will be occurring on our campus this fall. The best place to see what is coming up is the online university calendar. September highlights are in the link below.

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Downtown Area Shuttle-DASH

I hope you have heard by now about the new shuttle between Baylor and the downtown housing and restaurant district. The DASH is an economical and environmentally friendly way for faculty and staff to enjoy downtown restaurants without having to drive their personal vehicles.

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H1N1 Flu update

While we are not aware of any current cases of the H1N1 Swine Flu at Baylor, the university is prepared with an action plan should it appear on our campus. A Web site has been prepared as a point of communication and will be updated if conditions change during the year. This site, www.baylor.edu/h1n1, will keep you informed as well as assist you should you receive calls from concerned parents.

New Baylor television commercial

Networks televising our athletic events often provide us the opportunity to show a 30-second commercial promoting the university. With the start of the football season this week, we will begin running a new commercial. We will also be posting it to our websites and purchasing advertising time so the commercial can be viewed by prospective students and their parents.

It is amazing how much work goes into producing 30 seconds of television. I'm grateful to the many offices around campus that assisted in making sure that the commercial represented Baylor in a manner that is both attractive and compelling.

Watch the Commercial »

Current student web site unveils this week

When we decided to focus the Baylor home page around undergraduate recruitment, we launched an effort to create specific pages for other university audiences. A customized page for faculty and staff was launched last year and has become an excellent resource for internal communication. I encourage you to check this site daily for new information geared toward faculty and staff.

A new site for current students will be unveiled later this week and will provide an effective way for us to communicate information to our current students. I'm grateful to the staff in Student Life, Finance and Administration and Marketing and Communications who have worked together to create this informational resource for students.

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Faculty hosts needed for visiting missionaries

Missions Week will take place on our campus the week of September 28 - October 1. As is our tradition, missionaries will be coming to us from across the globe and are bringing a vast array of experience and perspectives, which may be relevant to your discipline and the students you will be teaching. If you are interested in hosting a missionary, please contact Joell_Beagle@baylor.edu, coordinator for missions.