Vision 2012

Over the next decade, Baylor and its constituents will move the university into the top tier of American universities while reaffirming and deepening its commitment to its Christian mission. The 2012 vision has led to several university-wide improvements including the construction of several new facilities. Recent projects include the new science building, and Harry and Anna Jeanes Discovery Center. Baylor documented the construction progress of these buildings with a series of photographs.

2012 Goals for Graduate Studies and Research

Why should we enhance graduate studies at a primarily undergraduate university such as Baylor? The answer is twofold. First, we aspire to rank among the finest universities in the nation by 2012. No university has yet gained such rank without strong graduate programs. Second, Baylor will make its influence felt in the academic world and in our larger society as an institution informed and motivated by its Christian identity. Such influence requires a depth of scholarly excellence and a volume of scholarly output that is found only in schools with first-rate graduate programs. For our influence to be distinctly Christian, a core of this scholarly work must be done from a rigorously Christian perspective. As the leading Baptist university in the United States, Baylor is an ideal place for this experiment in Christian scholarship of the highest order. How can we realistically hope to achieve this vision? Our undergraduate programs should be comprehensive, but at the graduate level we must focus on niches that fit our mission, allow us to focus our resources, and thus afford the greatest opportunities for national success. We propose our vision in two parts - the first for the humanities and social sciences, and the second for the sciences and mathematics.

The Humanities and Social Sciences

By 2012, Baylor will have at least ten doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities, including a new Ph.D. program in philosophy and three others from areas such as history, classics, social work, nursing, economics, sociology of religion, or political science. These new doctoral programs will join existing doctoral programs, our professional programs, and a new interdisciplinary center that focuses on religion and ethics. Through the research published by faculty in these areas, Baylor will emerge as a major contributor in the humanities and social sciences. Specifically, Baylor's graduate programs will be known for their research in:

• Theology
• Moral philosophy
• Literature
• The ethics of research, business, and health care
• Democracy and civil society
• The integration of Christianity with education, social work, nursing, and psychotherapy

The departments that focus on these and related research areas will gain national recognition and rank among the top half of graduate and professional programs in their respective disciplines.

We propose an important strategy to achieve the 2012 vision for the social sciences and the humanities areas. Baylor should define and support interdisciplinary niches where, from our natural strengths and mission, we can develop nationally recognized programs. Philosophy is developing a strong research faculty in ethics and moral philosophy. Social work is now building on the resources and history unique to Baylor and creating an excellent reputation for social work within a Christian context. Baylor will have a new interdisciplinary research center that includes doctoral students and faculty in the humanities, the social sciences, Truett Seminary, the School of Education, the School of Music, the Law School, and the Hankamer School of Business to help integrate our research on religious phenomena and ethics-based critiques of culture. Clinical psychology can investigate the relationships between religious belief and therapy. In conjunction with the Seminary, the School of Nursing might investigate the role of prayer in the process of healing, and the integration of pastoral and medical care for the sick. The applied sociology program might coordinate survey research for denominational entities on religious values and behavior. Education could do research on church sponsored schools. The Hankamer School of Business will develop a national reputation for business ethics. The Law School should produce legal scholarship on religious freedom.

The Sciences and Mathematics

By 2012, with new facilities, new interdisciplinary research centers for the environment and health science, new efforts in research administration, and building on the strength of our undergraduate programs, the eight doctoral programs in science and mathematics will become much more productive in doctoral output, research, and external funding. Most graduate faculty in the sciences will be publishing articles that are cited as frequently as those coming out of top national programs and will be funding much of their research with external grants. The growing reputation of our graduate programs will increase the quantity and quality of science students applying for graduate admission and of high school students applying for admission in the undergraduate pre-health professional programs.

We will achieve this vision by focusing many of our graduate science programs around two areas - the environment and the health sciences. In this way we will reach a level of expertise that would otherwise be beyond our relatively small programs in biology, geology, and environmental studies. A focus on the environment supports the broader vision's core conviction relative to understanding and caring for the natural world. This area will become increasingly important, and Baylor can play a major role in bringing a Christian view of stewardship to environmental conversations.

A focus on the health sciences reflects the theme of promoting the health of mind and body. It also reflects Baylor's long and proud history in health care, which continues to enhance perceptions of the University. Many of our brightest and best undergraduates study in health-related programs. It makes good sense and good economy to link more of our graduate research in the sciences to our undergraduate emphasis on pre-professional health programs.

We propose five steps to achieve the 2012 vision for the sciences and mathematics. First, Baylor will coordinate and integrate our health science curriculum and research through a new Health Sciences Center. New clinical doctoral programs, such as Speech-Language Pathology, could emerge from this Center. Existing doctoral programs, such as the Ph.D. in Biomedical Studies, can be expanded and strengthened by linking it with our doctoral programs in neuroscience, mathematics, statistics, and physics, as well as our programs in nursing and engineering. This new Center will enhance Baylor's learning opportunities in the health sciences from the undergraduate through the doctoral level.

Second, a new interdisciplinary center will promote interaction among departments that heretofore have pursued environmental scholarship independently. Faculty in the department of environmental studies bring expertise in policy and conflict resolution, while our biologists recognize and study the organisms involved and investigate ecological principles. Our chemists and biochemists study the physical settings of environmental problems. Our geologists advance the understanding of the world's energy and mineral resources in an environmental context. Other programs, such as statistics and engineering, will also play significant roles. Such interdependence of disciplines has led to recent discussions about a Center for Water Research which, when coupled with a new Center for the Environment, will pursue funding and coordinate research activities across departments.

Third, to maximize the return of faculty and laboratory investment, to achieve a critical mass of doctoral students, to enhance doctoral student retention and progress, and to promote faculty and student scholarship, a University-wide benchmark of at least two or three doctoral graduates per year per program should be established.

Fourth, Baylor's success in scientific scholarship hinges largely on having a faculty that is enthusiastically engaged in the research enterprise. The "Web of Science" database, which was recently acquired by the Library, is an extremely powerful tool for measuring the quantity and quality of research. Faculty will be encouraged to do more of the kind of research that is most likely to help Baylor become a premier university. Research should increasingly address questions whose study is suitable for publication in premier scientific journals. Study of such questions increases the likelihood of grant funding from widely recognized and respected sources. The Graduate School and the Office of Research Administration will work together to achieve these research objectives.

Finally, productivity in faculty scholarship is integrally linked with graduate education. Increasing the caliber of our graduate students, especially doctoral students, is essential to facilitating faculty scholarship. Our faculty will be encouraged to support more graduate students with competitive stipends funded by their external research grants, and the University will increase the stipends paid to graduate assistants teaching in the sciences. Competitive stipends alone, however, are not sufficient. More top graduate students will come to Baylor as our current faculty further develop scholarly reputations and as we recruit junior faculty with promising potential and other faculty with established reputations.

Baylor need not do all things at the graduate level. If we add a small number of new doctoral programs and interdisciplinary research centers focusing on niches that reflect our mission and our existing strengths - religion and ethics, the environment, and the health sciences--we have a strong chance to achieve premier status by 2012. Programs that focus on these three areas will be privileged in their visibility on campus, in access to resources, and in influence on faculty hiring.