Regents Approve Budget, Elect New Regents and Officers

by Lori Fogleman
Baylor University's Board of Regents today approved a 2005-06 fiscal year budget of $296 million - a 4.15 percent, or $11.8 million, increase over the current operating budget. Including scholarship funds, the total budget for the next fiscal year is $364 million.
Next year's budget, which takes effect June 1, reflects $2 million in cost savings achieved from reorganizational or structural changes in administrative departments. No quasi-endowment funds have been used to balance the budget 2005-06 budget.
The 2005-06 budget also features a $12.1 million - or 21.64 percent - increase in scholarships and fellowships. This total includes increases for merit, need-based and graduate assistantship scholarships.
Regents today also approved two new academic programs - a doctorate in political science and a joint master's degree in engineering and business administration. The political science doctoral program, while focusing on the history of political thought, issues of citizenship and democratic theory, will emphasize the traditional political science fields of political theory, American politics and constitutional law, international relations and comparative politics. The master's degree program, a joint venture between the department of engineering and the Hankamer School of Business, will prepare graduates to face both the managerial and technological challenges associated with today's marketplace.
In other action, the board elected three new regents. Joining the board June 1 will be Anne Graham Lotz of Asheville, N.C.; Ramiro Pena Jr. of Waco; and R. Dary Stone of Dallas.
Six regents were re-elected to three-year terms, effective June 1. They include Stan Allcorn of Abilene; Jay Allison of Frisco; James Bowden of Waco; Stephen Carmack of Edmond, Okla.; Harold Cunningham of Crawford; and Minette Pratt of Fort Worth.
Four regents have completed their terms on the board: Brian Harbour of Richardson, Walker Harman of Dallas, Sam Medina of Lubbock, and Charles Overby of Brentwood, Tenn.
Last fall, the Baptist General Convention of Texas re-elected current regents Wes Bailey of Waco and Randy Ferguson of Austin to serve on the board. The BGCT also elected Duane Brooks of Houston to a three-year term on the board.
The board also unanimously re-elected Will Davis of Austin as board chairman for 2005-06. Jim Turner of Dallas was named chair-elect and vice chair of the board.
Before adjourning, the regents presented Dr. Robert B. Sloan Jr. with a citation acknowledging his leadership and accomplishments as president over the last decade and expressed appreciation for his contributions to the university with a standing ovation.