Imperative V
Initiate outstanding new academic programs in selected areas
Progress Summary
- To challenge students with exceptional academic potential, Baylor will create an Honors College. The College will house an expanded Baylor Honors Program, provide a home for an enhanced University Scholars program, and serve as a location for the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) program. The Honors College has been created and has grown consistently to include approximately 1,400 students with increasingly high SAT scores.
- We will also establish a comprehensive School of Communication that will encompass the University's journalism, speech communication, and telecommunication programs. A major strategic proposal to establish a School of Communication was submitted for review by the Strategic Planning Council in the spring of 2007. After deliberations by the Strategic Planning Council and the Executive Council, it was approved for revision and then submission to University Development for inclusion in the upcoming Comprehensive Campaign.
- We will enhance Baylor's reputation and the currency of Christian ideas on campus by increasing the quality, size, and visibility of selected graduate programs. Accordingly, by 2012 Baylor will feature at least 10 doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities. The number of total doctoral programs will thus grow from 14 to at least 20. The number of graduate students will increase by 25 percent, and the number of doctoral students will increase by at least 30 percent. We are on track to meet our 2012 graduate program goals. The number of doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities has grown to 10 since 2002. The total number of doctoral programs has grown to 19. The total number of Ph.D. students has increased by approximately 22%, and the average GRE score of Ph.D. students has increased by 107 points.