Presidential Perspective - May 2, 2019

Baylor Students, Faculty and Staff:

Please join me in welcoming Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., to Baylor as our new Provost – the chief academic officer of the University. Dr. Brickhouse comes to Baylor from St. Louis University, a Jesuit research university where she previously served as Provost. As a Baylor alumna, she has a strong faith story and commitment to Christian higher education, and I look forward to working alongside her as we elevate Baylor’s status as a preeminent Christian research university. For our faculty, you should have received an invitation via email to a special reception in Dr. Brickhouse’s honor on Monday, May 6, beginning at 3 p.m. in Armstrong Browning Library. You don’t want to miss this event, as we will also make a significant announcement in support of Illuminate, our academic strategic plan.

Here are several items of note for this week:

• I am excited about our tremendous progress on Illuminate, which builds on Baylor’s historic strengths and strategically invests in new areas of teaching, research and service as we move toward our goals as an “R1” university. To date, faculty from across all colleges and schools and several departments have submitted 51 innovative and strategic proposals that address the strategic plan’s five signature academic initiatives. These proposals are undergoing a rigorous review by the faculty-led Illuminate Steering Committee and subcommittees, in addition to chairs, associate deans and deans. Recommendations will be made soon to Provost Brickhouse.

• If you were unable to attend Monday’s Conversation Series, an audio recording of the panel discussion featuring Brett Dalton, chief business officer; Gary Carini, Ph.D., vice provost for graduate professional education and strategic planning; and David Rosselli, vice president for advancement, has been posted online. These members of our President’s Council provided a great semester-ending update on the University’s progress.

• A class lecture by Julie Anne Sweet, Ph.D., professor of history in the College of Arts & Sciences, will be featured on C-SPAN 3 as part of the channel’s “Lectures in History” series this Saturday at 7 p.m. A C-SPAN crew was on campus in February to film Dr. Sweet, who is well-known at Baylor for her creative approach to the classroom, including dressing in period costume. Her lecture focuses on the American military during the Revolutionary War, including a look at the equipment and capabilities of both the Continental Army and militia troops. A stream of the program will be available here.

• Baylor students, faculty and staff will now have free digital access to the latest financial news, insights and commentary from Barron’s – “America’s premier financial magazine” – by way of a new partnership with the Barron’s in Education program. The program provides tools to help students attain greater financial literacy and proficiency. I’d like to thank Thomas and Laura McBride and the Crockett, McBride and Associates Team at Merrill Lynch for sponsoring the two-year subscription. The McBrides are the parents of Baylor alumnus Luke McBride, B.S.F.C.S. (Apparel Merchandising) ’17.

• I continue to be impressed by our students, particularly with this creative and collaborative endeavor taken on by some of the seniors in our department of computer science, as they will unveil and demonstrate a video game created in the program’s gaming capstone course during an open house presentation on Friday. Combining the efforts of film and digital media, art, music and entrepreneurship students, this remarkable team project provides the full industry experience of publishing a video game from concept to market. The program will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow in Bennett Auditorium in the Draper Academic Building. Game demonstrations will take place after an initial presentation, and attendees will have a chance to play the new game.

• Congratulations to Coach Felecia Mulkey and our Acrobatics and Tumbling team for winning their fifth consecutive national championship last weekend here in Waco. Our Bears finished the regular season undefeated with a program-record 12 wins and ended the 2019 campaign on an amazing 30-meet win streak.

And to end on some bad news for students – final exams are scheduled May 8-13! But if you need a break from studying, I will join members of the President’s Council in passing out FREE breakfast tacos and coffee on Monday from 8:30-9:30 a.m. in the SUB Den. We wish you nothing but the best and pray for your knowledge, wisdom and well-being during this stressful time.

Sincerely,

Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.
President