Imperative III
Develop a world-class faculty
Baylor will continue to recruit faculty from a variety of backgrounds capable of achieving the best of scholarship, both in teaching and research. We will recruit high-potential junior faculty as well as highly esteemed senior faculty who embrace the Christian faith and are knowledgeable of the Christian intellectual tradition. many of these faculty will especially exemplify the integration of faith and learning in their disciplines and in interdisciplinary or collaborative activities. A significant number of Baylor faculty will continue to be recognized as leaders in their respective disciplines and in productive, cutting-edge research.
Progress Summary
- The majority of new Baylor faculty graduated from universities with very high research production.
Of the tenured/tenure track faculty hired fall 2002 through fall 2010, more than three-fourths received their degrees from universities characterized by “very high research activity.”
- We are making remarkable progress in faculty publications.
The number of publications in major journals by Baylor faculty has more than doubled, from 202 in 2002 to 552 in 2010.
- We are making progress for fiscal support of research.
Research expenditures have grown significantly during the past eight years; however, while the growth decreased in fiscal year 2010, expenditures remain ahead of 2002.
This growth in external support for research has combined with our increases in graduates with research doctorates to produce the new Carnegie classification of “research university” for Baylor.
The increase in research activity described above has resulted in the need for additional research and economic development space. In 2009, Waco business and civic leader Clifton Robinson, his family and H. Bland Cromwell donated the former General Tire facility to the university. In collaboration with its community partners, including city and county governments, institutions of higher education and economic development organizations, Baylor formally established the Central Texas Technology and Research Park in October 2009. The Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC), housed in the General Tire building, will be the first phase of park development. Funding for the BRIC thus far has been provided by Baylor university ($10 million), a state appropriation to Texas State Technical College ($10 million), and grants from Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corporation ($5 million) and the Bellmead economic development Corporation ($500,000). Once complete, the BRIC will provide research space and collaborative research opportunities for graduate programs in the Baylor School of Engineering and Computer Science, selected new and existing interdisciplinary centers and institutes, and for entrepreneur and business development support services from the Hankamer School of Business.
- We are on track in being intentional about the integration of faith and learning.
Baylor hires committed Christians and evaluates each individual job candidate's willingness to be committed to the university's mission and vision. Each department has submitted to the Provost a statement describing how its faculty integrate faith and learning in their work. All units advocate reflecting Christian values in the ways faculty relate to one another, students and staff. The relation of faith to the content of teaching and research varies widely from discipline to discipline. For example, these issues are intrinsic to the subject matter of some units (e.g., the department of religion or George W. Truett Theological Seminary), while other units explore them as they bear on moral and ethical professional conduct, motivation for professional service, or the exploration of particular cultural issues.