Baylor University Graduate School Annual Report (2019)

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Graduate School www.baylor.edu/graduate

DECEMBER 2019

THE ILLUMINATE GOAL A PREEMINENT CHRISTIAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

ANNUAL REPORT

IN THIS ISSUE:

8

Integration of Faith and Learning

11

Strengthening Undergraduate Education

15

Scholarly Profile of Our Faculty

An Introductory Note from Dean Lyon: Illuminate, R1 and the Graduate School For four years, my introductory comments for the Annual Report have led with “we begin this year with new leadership,” and with the May arrival of our new Provost, that introduction could be appropriate again. However, this year, I will begin with a different observation about our leadership. I am persuaded that in the twenty-one years I have served as dean, Baylor has never had an array of leaders more supportive of graduate education than we do now. It begins, of course, with the President and her repeated calls for Baylor to become “America’s preeminent Christian research university.” This is, in my opinion, the most ambitious – perhaps most audacious – goal for our university since the Baylor 2012 vision statement. Beyond the President, our Regents, the Provost, and Vice Presidents are not only sympathetic to the Graduate School’s goals but are active participants in moving graduate education forward. Among my fellow deans, there is pride in their graduate programs and a desire to make them larger and stronger. All are indicators of the heightened visibility and support of graduate education among academic leaders at Baylor.

During this time of growing interest in graduate education, I’ve noted that we sometimes conflate the President’s “preeminent Christian research university” goal with pursuit of Tier 1 and R1. All three are worthy but distinctive goals for Baylor. However, they are sufficiently related to make the conflation understandable. Without achieving an R1 status, Baylor is unlikely to become a Tier 1 university, and until we are Tier 1, claims of preeminence are premature.

R1 and Tier 1 First Baylor 2012, then Pro Futuris, and now Illuminate all call for Baylor to influence the world from the perspective of a Christian research university. Baylor 2012 (p. 3) further asserts that “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.”

Baylor must become “first-rate,” not just by our own proclamations, but by the standards of the Academy, by attaining the most widely accepted rank, which is the R1 (Very High Research) status in the Carnegie Classification of universities. This is why Pro Futuris calls for Baylor to “increase PhD production” and “raise…externally funded research to approach the profile of Carnegie Foundation’s Research Universities with Very High Research Activity.”

With Illuminate, R1 has received even more emphasis,

becoming one of the University’s most visible goals.

The R1 or “Very High” rank, though only a somewhat arbitrary ranking of various research metrics, is essential because R1 is a necessary step toward Baylor becoming a Tier 1 university. Tier 1 is, I believe, a higher and more subjective category including universities with high national and global rankings (e.g., USN&WR or ARWU), more academically capable students, and research opportunities built into both undergraduate and graduate curricula. Moving toward Tier 1 means that we will improve the quality, increase the scale, and deepen the impact of our scholarship. It means we will equip Baylor faculty to create new algorithms for detecting patterns in “big data,” to write and perform the world’s great music, produce new materials for industry, intelligently wrestle with ethical dilemmas and ameliorate psychological, social, and physical problems. When Baylor achieves this level of top tier scholarship, then we will demonstrate that a Christian Research University can indeed have a profound influence on the world; but first, before all of that, we need to become an R1 university. Thus, this note focuses primarily on our first and most achievable goal, becoming a Very High Research or R1 university.

What Makes a University R1?

Three general metrics determine a university’s place on the Carnegie research rankings: 1) research doctoral graduates, 2) research expenditures, and 3) research staff. These metrics are then divided by discipline (usually, STEM, Social Sciences, or Humanities), analyzed at both aggregate and per capita levels, ranked to reduce the effect of outliers, and subjected to principal component analyses to determine relative weights. There’s a lot more to it than that, as those of you who have suffered through my PowerPoint presentations can attest. Still, generally, schools move to R1 by graduating more research doctoral students, securing more research grant dollars, and hiring more postdocs to work in their labs.

In the Graduate School, our primary R1 concern is research doctoral graduates. An “average” R1 university will graduate about 45 humanities research doctorates each year, 37 in the social sciences, 152 in STEM, and 76 in “other” or professional fields, like Clinical Psychology, Ministry, Kinesiology, Entrepreneurship, Health Services, Social Work, and Curriculum and Instruction (all offered at Baylor). So, how do we compare to an average R1 university?

How Close is Baylor to Becoming an R1?

Table 1 shows just how very far Baylor must go before we are graduating 300 research doctorates 250 equivalent to an average R1 university. We can 200 double everything and still 150 not be there. Still, before 100 concluding that R1 is a nice but totally impractical 50 goal, the “Lower Quartile” 0 column shows that we Baylor 2018-19 R1 Average R1 Lower Quartile don’t have to be “average.”

STEM Humanities Social Sciences Other Half the R1s are below average and are still R1s. Some day Baylor will be an average R1 university, and some day subsequently, an above-average R1, but that level of research is not necessary now for Baylor to become R1. In fact, Baylor is not that far away from the graduation levels of lower quartile R1 universities. I believe we can rather quickly match or even surpass the graduation totals of lower quartile R1 universities. This is important because being strong on one criterion off-sets weakness in another. My goal for the Graduate School is to greatly increase our research doctoral production so that our necessary increases in research funding and research staff become more achievable.

Table 1. Research Doctorates

350

The simple comparisons in Table 1 as well as more complex mathematical modeling (that has been shared in multiple presentations across campus) indicate that for Baylor to reach the R1 threshold, we must significantly increase our research doctoral graduates, with the greatest potential for growth existing in STEM, the Social Sciences, and especially in the professional doctorates such as the EdD and the DSc. There are a lot of unknowns in reaching R1, including the growth potential of our professional research doctorates, the ways in which our Illuminate initiatives may help us meet our goals, and the possibility of new R1 criteria or weights, but for the Graduate School, R1 is worthwhile and achievable.

R1 and the Annual Report Three additional points about our movement toward R1 will be explored in detail in the Report: • Our anticipated doctoral growth is designed to support our largest undergraduate programs, with greater access to research opportunities for undergraduates, smaller undergraduate laboratory classes, and more tutorial opportunities for traditionally challenging undergraduate courses.

• Our faith-commitment will not waiver during this process. Instead, our graduate programs will uniquely offer opportunities to combine spiritual and disciplinary growth.

• Becoming an R1 university does not mean that the Graduate School is then what it should be. A high-quality graduate school appropriate for a preeminent Christian research university needs much more than a high number of research doctorates graduating each year. Thus, metrics associated with quality graduate education comprise the bulk of this report.

Following in the tradition of earlier editions, this report allows you to skip to those areas of most interest by using the table of contents to the right.

Table of Contents Counts for Graduate Students and Programs Recruiting and Retaining Excellent Students Diversity Opportunities for Graduate Student Research Integration of Faith and Learning Outstanding Teaching Strengthening Undergraduate Education Community Building Transformative Education Funding Graduate Education Graduate Student Insurance Retention, Graduation Rates, Time to Degree, and Debt Placement of Doctoral Graduates Scholarly Profile of Our Faculty External PhD Program Assessments Concluding Notes from Dean Lyon Graduate School Staff

Contributors DEANS Vice Provost & Dean of the Graduate School: Larry Lyon Associate Dean: Chris Rios Associate Dean for Student Development: Beth Allison Barr Associate Dean for Research: Steve Driese STAFF Assistant to the Dean: Sheila Dooley Dissertation & Thesis Coordinator: Sandra Harman Administrative Manager, Dean’s Office: Anna Henderson Admissions & Recruitment Director: Tosha Hendrickson Asst. for Grad. Studies & Prof. Dev.: Alanna Martinez Graduate Records Coordinator: Candice Prose Admissions Specialist: Alana Schaeper Admin. Assoc. for Admiss. & Recruit.: Laura Sepanski Director of the Graduate School Office: Sherry Sims GRADUATE ASSISTANTS Higher Edu. Studies & Leadership: Hina Abel Sociology: Daniel Allen Higher Edu. Studies & Leadership: David Winkler Health & Science Studies: Holli Crawford (senior) GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION President: Rachel Renbarger Exec. Vice President: Becca Cassady Vice President, Communications: Kendall Scarlett Vice President, Operations: Tyler Prochnow Secretary: Hina Abel Pictured on cover (left to right): Chemistry and Biochemistry PhD graduate, Dr. Michael Pettit (now a scientist at NIST) along with graduate students Amy Schnelle and Ian Anthony, work on a Custom Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometer as part of their research with Professor Touradj Solouki.

32

Counts for Graduate Students and Programs

Counts for Graduate Students and Programs The number of Baylor graduate students depends on the definition of “graduate students.” If the focus is on only those students under the purview of the Graduate School, then professional students in the Law School, Seminary, and Masters’ students in Social Work are not counted.

There are also distinctions between “head counts” and “program counts,” since, for example, some students may be working on a BBA and MACC at the same time.

If so, they are counted as undergrads by head count, but counted as graduate students under a program count.

How Many Graduate Students Does Baylor Have?

By program counts, Baylor has 4,154 graduate and professional students, and when we don’t include those in Law, Seminary, and Social Work, that leaves 3,137 (76%) under the purview of the Graduate School. That number is not nearly as large as it needs to be in order for Baylor to move to R1 status, but we are making progress.

Is That More Than Last Year?

Table 2 shows that the number of graduate and professional students under the purview of the Graduate School has grown both absolutely and relatively. In 2014, 11% of Baylor’s overall enrollment was under the Graduate School; today that percentage is 17. The drivers to our growth are our growing professional master’s degrees and our increased production of research doctorates, and in different ways, both can move us toward R1.

Table 2. Program Counts of All Graduate and Professional Students in the Graduate School

3500

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

3000

20% 18%

2500 2000

16%

1500

14%

1000

12%

500 0

2014 total count

2019

10%

percent of total enrollment

Where Have We Grown?

Table 3 lists our ten largest graduate programs and illustrates two important growth trends. First is the rapid growth of our online professional programs. All of the increase in our MBA comes from our online degree. The BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

same is true for our DPT, EdD, and DNP. This trend will continue and help provide funding for our second trend, the growth in STEM PhDs. Chemistry leads the way in the growth of our STEM PhDs, which moves Baylor closer to R1.

Table 3. Five-Year Enrollment Growth Patterns of Our Largest Programs Program Business Administration (MBA, EMBA, OMBA) Comm Sciences and Disorders (MS) Learning & Organizational Change (EDD) Physical Therapy (DPT) Nurse Practitioner (DNP) Public Health (MPH) Health Care Administration (MHA) Accounting (MACC) Chemistry (PHD) Anesthesia Nursing (DNP)

2014 262 42 . .

7 21 .

62 52 .

2019 482 243 240 224 119 100 86 84 71 62

Growth 220 201 240 224 112 79 86 22 19 62

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

Where Will We Grow?

Projecting five-year graduation counts for PhD programs is relatively straightforward since most of the future graduates are already enrolled. We can examine current enrollment levels and adjust for historical retention rates as well as time to graduation. While predictions for any single program might vary from the predictive algorithm, the aggregated projections are reasonably robust. So, in the next five years, Table 4 shows that our STEM graduation count should grow from 43 to 58. Little growth in predicted for the social sciences between now and 2024, though recruitment strategies suggest greater growth in the subsequent 5 years. The humanities may experience a slight decline, reflecting a faculty-driven concern about the academic job market. And finally, the category that Carnegie labels as “Other” should grow to 11 graduates per year. Overall, in the next 5 years, we should grow from 82 PhD graduates per year to 106, approximately a 30% increase.

When combined with professional research doctorates like the EdD and DSc, this PhD growth rate should be sufficient to move Baylor into the lower levels of an R1 classification in the future, but a “preeminent” or “Tier 1” level will require more. There are two ways to add PhD graduates. One is to add more PhD programs. Table 5 shows that this is a strategy Baylor has aggressively followed since the 1990s with a current count of 29 PhD programs.

This raises the question: How many more PhD programs does Baylor need? Compared to the 31 PhD programs at Notre Dame, a Christian university with R1 credentials, we are approaching a sufficient number. However, at least ten proposals for new PhD programs are in some level of discussion. Not all will result in new programs, but some increase in our PhD program count seems likely.

43

Counts for Graduate Students and Programs Table 4. PhD Program Enrollment, Graduation, and Projected Graduation Counts 2019 Enrollment

Annual PhD Graduates Current1

2024 2

Biology (PhD)

44

2

4

Biomedical Studies (PhD)

16

4.3

3

Chemistry & Biochemistry (PhD)

71

8

10

Computer Science (PhD)

2

0

3

Ecological, Earth, and Env. Sci. (PhD)

5

1

1

Elect. & Comp. Engineering (PhD)3

32

4

6

ENPH/KENPH (PhD)

17

4

4

Environmental Science (PhD) 3

22

1.7

4

Geology (PhD)

26

2.3

3

Information Systems (PhD)

8

2.3

2

Mathematics (PhD)

29

3.3

3

Mechanical Engineering (PhD)3

20

1

4

Physics (PhD)

47

3

4

Statistics (PhD)

31

6.3

7

Total

370

43

58

Church Music (PhD)3

7

0.7

1

English (PhD)

42

9

6

History (PhD)

15

2.3

3

Philosophy (PhD)

32

5

6

Religion (PhD)

53

7.3

7

Total

149

24

23

Educational Psychology (PhD)

27

1.7

3

Political Science (PhD)

28

3.3

4

Psychology and Neuroscience (PhD)

23

3.0

3

Sociology (PhD)

23

3.7

4

Total

101

12

14

Curriculum & Teaching (PhD)

20

1.7

3

Entrepreneurship (PhD)3

6

0.0

2

Health Services Research (PhD)3

3

0.0

2

Higher Edu. Studies & Ldrshp. (PhD)3

11

0.3

2

Social Work (PhD)3

20

1.0

2

Total

60

3

11

680

82

106

GRAND TOTAL 1

Three year annual avg. (Summer 2016 – Spring 2019) Projected for 2023-24 3 New program

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Other

Social Sciences

Humanities

STEM

Research Doctoral Program

History of PhD Programs at Baylor

1951 English 1951 Education (discont. 1956) 1952 Chemistry 1959 Psychology 1965 Physics 1966 Religion 1990 Biomedical Studies 1990 Geology 1992 Statistics 1993 Church-State Studies (discont. 2011) 1994 Biology 1995 Sociology 1997 Educational Psychology 2001 Mathematics 2003 Philosophy 2005 Relig., Politics & Society (discont. 2011) 2005 Kines., Exercise Nutr. & Health Promo.

2005 Political Science 2008 Ecological, Earth and Env. Sciences 2008 Information Systems 2009 Curriculum and Teaching 2011 Electrical and Computer Engineering 2011 History 2013 Church Music 2013 Social Work 2014 Higher Edu. Studies & Leadership 2014 Mechanical Engineering 2015 Environmental Science 2015 Entrepreneurship 2016 Computer Science 2016 Health Services Research 2018 Preaching

2

Table 5. Number of PhD Programs at Baylor

30 25 20

10 5 0

Source: Baylor Graduate School

15

FALL 2019

54

Recruiting and Retaining Academically Excellent Students

Baylor must and will recruit an academically excellent graduate student body. Table 6 shows the dramatic increase in the number of applications and incoming students in the past decade.

Table 6. Graduate Applications & Enrollment

4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

3716

1993

1791 1429 912

626

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Summer/Fall 2009 applications

acceptances

Summer/Fall 2019 new graduate students enrolled

The increase in applications reflects a growing national reputation for Baylor’s graduate programs. For quality, when coupled with our limited growth in overall graduate admissions, the result is an increasingly selective Graduate School. Table 7 shows that we have almost twice as many applications as acceptances and over four times as many accepted applicants enrolling as those who declined.

Table 7. From Graduate Applications to Enrollments (2018)

Table 8. High-Applicant Programs Program Physical Therapy (DPT) Learning & Organizat. Change (EDD) Business Administration (OMBA) Communication Sci & Disorders (MS) Clinical Psychology (PSYD) Business Administration (MBA) Accounting (MACC) Community Health Educ. (MPH) Business Administration (EMBA) Nurse Practitioner (DNP) Performance (MM) Philosophy (PHD)

2016-2017* 2017-2018* 2018-2019* .

221 1052 . .

479 331 316 362 362 378 330 265 274 274 211 197 238 129 164 134 . .

104 73 72 101 31 28 84 76 62 63 54 59 59

*Summer, Fall and Spring Terms for academic years

Diversity For more than a decade, students from minority backgrounds have totaled less than 30% of Baylor’s graduate student body, slowly growing from 26% to 29% between 2008 and 2018. In the past year, that number jumped to 34%, with the largest increases seen among our African American/Black and Hispanic students (5% to 8% and 9% to 13% respectively). Predictably, the number of students who identify as white has decreased from 66% to 60%. A similar jump has occurred among our female population, growing from 50% to 57% in one year. Why the sudden changes? We should not discount the attempt by many of our programs to increase the number of under-represented students within their departments, but the results of these efforts come slowly. Instead, the rapid increase stems from the students Baylor is reaching through our rapidly expanding online professional programs. As seen in the table below, these students are generally older, more female, and more racially diverse.

Table 9. Demographic Differences between On-Campus & Online Students

70% 60% 50%

3,716 Applications Source: Baylor Graduate School

1,791 Offers (48% Acceptance Rate)

1,925 Non-Offers (52%)

1,429 Enrolled (80% Yield)

40% 30%

362 Declined (20%)

20% 10% 0%

Female

30+ On Campus

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

Recruiting and Retaining Academically Excellent Students

Although Baylor offers almost one hundred graduate degree options, just five professional programs generate more than two-thirds of our applications. Table 8 shows that three of these programs (DPT, EDD, and OMBA) represent our new online initiatives.

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

Growing our existing PhD programs is another path to R1 status. Here the Notre Dame comparison can again be instructive. Even though the number of Baylor and Notre Dame PhD programs is almost the same, Notre Dame graduates about twice as many PhDs as Baylor and has twice as many faculty in their PhD programs. More broadly, PhD programs in R1 universities tend to be about twice the size of Baylor’s programs. For the R1 and especially for the “Tier 1/Preeminent Research University” status to which we aspire, more faculty and more doctoral students in our PhD programs is a necessity.

Hispanic Online

Black

65

Diversity Table 11. EAP Student Classification

1%

1%

8% 39%

18%

33%

Oct. 2019 Pot-luck luncheon with EAP students and families at the Quadrangle, with instructor Dr. Qingqing Chen, Dr. Steve Driese, and his wife Marylaine.

Ph.D. Visiting Scholar Undergraduate

Language Support for International Graduate Students

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Table 12. EAP Student Department Elect. Engineering Math Business Geosciences Comp. Sci. Physics Religion Biology Info. Syst.

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Over the past 3.5 years the Baylor Graduate School has offered the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course to international ESL graduate students and scholars, with the focus on improving their English oral proficiency and communication skills to achieve academic success in the context of U.S. culture. Dr. Qingqing Chen is currently teaching the EAP course. Since she started working as the EAP program director in Fall 2016, 75 international graduate students and visiting scholars from 17 countries (65% from China) and students from 12(+) academic programs were enrolled or are currently attending the course. The aggregate characteristics of the students are shown here in Tables 10, 11, and 12.

Master Dependent Post Doc

Chemistry Mech. Engineering Social Work Other 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Table 10. EAP Student Origin Fall 2016 - Fall 2019 Student Demographics (n=75)

65% China

China Malaysia South Korea Brazil Taiwan Vietnam Russia Tadzhikistan Cuba

India Portugal Peru Mexico Nigeria Czech Republic Poland France Source: Baylor Graduate School

FALL 2019

6 7

Opportunities for Graduate Student Research

Opportunities for Graduate Student Research The third pillar of Illuminate, “Research and Scholarship marked by Quality, Impact, and Visibility,” highlights a core value of graduate education at Baylor: producing scholars whose “ground-breaking research” expands “the University’s impact on the world.” One measure of how successful we are in these regards is the degree to which our students are presenting their research at professional meetings in their discipline. With almost 1600 presentations during the last two years combined, our graduate students are producing research and actively engaging within their disciplinary guilds. This is a remarkable achievement that expands the University’s impact as the name “Baylor University” appears alongside each graduate student presentation at a professional conference they attend.

An even more rigorous sign of our students’ research prowess is their ability to publish in peer-reviewed publications while still in our graduate programs. Our graduate students published 693 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and book reviews during 2018. Table 17 lists those doctoral programs that lead in graduate student publications. Our Physics department ranks first in published research for doctoral students, averaging almost nine articles per student per year. This reflects a successful effort to engage their graduate students in the CERN laboratory experiments near Geneva. Our humanities graduate students, who have fields with slower time-to-publication than STEM, also find significant success in publishing their research.

Table 16. Peer-Reviewed Publications by Graduate Students in Professional Journals 800 700

Table 13. Presentations by Graduate Students at Professional Meetings

600

800

500

700

400 Source: Baylor Graduate School

600

300

500

200

400 Source: Baylor Graduate School

300 200 100 0

2013-14

100 0

2013

2018

2018-19

Table 17. Top Doctoral Programs for Annual Student Publications Table 14. Top Doctoral Programs for Graduate Student Presentations at Professional Meetings

Doctoral Program Curriculum & Instruction Educational Psychology Environmental Science EEES History

2018-19 Total Student Presentations 62 38 35 8 22

Per Capita 2.48 1.81 1.75 1.6 1.57

Doctoral Program Physics Environmental Science Biomedical Studies Information Systems Psychology

2018 Total Student Publications 366 29 21 10 26

Per Capita 8.93 1.45 1.31 1.25 1.08

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Table 15. Top Master’s Programs for Graduate Student Presentations at Professional Meetings Master’s Program Environmental Science Curriculum & Instruction Theater Arts American Studies School Psychology (ES)

2018-19 Total Student Presentations 6 14 8 2 14

Per Capita 1.2 1 1 1 0.93

Source: Baylor Graduate School

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

Grant-Writing Support for STEM Graduate Students – Drs. Steve Driese and Bill Hockaday in the Geosciences Department offered two sections of a seminar in grantwriting during Fall 2019. The Graduate School-sponsored course, GEO 5V90, trained 11 graduate students from Geosciences, Biology, Environmental Science, TIEEES, and Physics. The course aim is to develop a PhD dissertation or MS Thesis proposal using the NSF research grant as a model. This year, three of the graduate students enrolled in the course have applied for the NSF Graduate Research

87

Integration of Faith and Learning Fellowship Program (GRFP) award. Graduate students enrolled in GEO 5V90 are also eligible to participate in the OVPR-sponsored Grant-Writing Workshop offered on Thursday, January 9, 2020, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, and should register online.

Drs. Elizabeth Petsios (GEO) and Rebecca Sheesley (ENV) assist Dr. Bill Hockaday with a roundtable discussion of their experiences with grant-writing as early career faculty.

Integration of Faith and Learning

Illuminate reminds us that Baylor is “unambiguously Christian.” For more than 170 years, Baylor has dedicated itself to pursuing “academic excellence animated by Christian faith.” Graduate students continue to be attracted to Baylor’s identity as a Christian research university, especially as we move closer to R1 status. Table 18 reports on a survey we give to all new graduate students. The tables show that our funding, reputation, and scholarship matter a lot to graduate students – especially our funding as Baylor’s graduate stipends become even more competitive in 2019 than 2018 . Our Christian identity also matters, as we continue to recruit and enroll students who value our strong faith commitment.

Table 18. Why Graduate Students Choose Baylor Available Funding Program Reputation

2018-2019 Outstanding Dissertation Awards Michael Rawl (English)

“’Winter Words’: The Poetry of Old Age in Thomas Hardy, W.B. Yeats, and Philip Larkin”

Logan Wiest (Geosciences)

“Taphonomic and Mass-Extinction Research from an Ichnological Perspective”

Kenneth Vaughan (Sociology)

“Religion, Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, and Attitudes Toward Democracy: Evaluations of a Changing Europe”

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Provost Brickhouse with the 2019 Outstanding Dissertation Award Winners: Kenneth Vaughan, Michael Rawl, and Logan Wiest.

University Reputation Scholarship of Faculty Christian Identity

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

In recognition of the growing quality of graduate student research, the Graduate School is pleased to present the Outstanding Dissertation Award for exceptional scholarship, research, and writing by doctoral students.

Three awards are given out annually, one each for the STEM, humanities, and social science fields. Provost Nancy Brickhouse joined us on her first day as Provost at Baylor to congratulate our award winners at the Spring 2019 award ceremony.

Faculty Recommendation Unique Degree Plan University Location Size of University 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

It is encouraging that while our exit surveys show almost 40% of our graduate students deliberately sought out Baylor because of its Christian identity, 56% of our graduates report developing a deeper faith and 88% report quality spiritual experiences.

In addition to Baylor’s Christian environment and Christian faculty who serve as mentors to our students, the Graduate School offers a number of programs that help students grow spiritually.

Dr. Candace Vogler, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago and a committed Christian scholar, speaks with the 2019 Conyers Scholars.

FALL 2019

8 9

Outstanding, Excellent Teaching

• Conyers Scholars – An intensive, competitive program for Baylor doctoral students sponsored by the Graduate School and the Institute for Faith and Learning. It fosters intellectually rich discussions about faith and scholarly inquiry as students are introduced to the writings of first-rate Christian scholars. Twelve scholars belong to the 2019 cohort, representing nine different graduate programs from STEM, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities.

• Ramm Scholars – An interdisciplinary program for doctoral STEM students and MDiv students sponsored by the Graduate School and Truett Theological Seminary. It fosters discussion and inquiry about faith and science to help future science faculty and future ministers develop informed and sympathetic views on these issues. Nine scholars belong to the 2019 cohort, representing five STEM departments and Truett Seminary.

• BCU Scholars – A partnership of the Baylor Graduate School, the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities (IABCU), and IABCU partner schools, this program strengthens ties among Baptist schools by connecting eligible Baylor graduate students with IABCU schools and by preparing them for faculty life in Baptist colleges and universities. Baylor is poised to become an R1 research institution, but we are already a premier institution among Baptist Colleges and Universities. By placing Baylor students at Baptist schools, Baylor can have a significant impact on the future of Baptists in America.

2019 BCU scholars enjoy fellowship at Provost Emeritus Don Schmeltekopf’s home.

Outstanding, Excellent Teaching Illuminate is rooted in the transformational education Baylor has provided undergraduate students throughout its history. The Baylor graduate school is committed to continuing Baylor’s tradition of transformational teaching by training graduate students to become excellent teachers. Accordingly, the Graduate School has developed several programs providing pedagogical training.

• Graduate Pathways for Success (GPS) workshops – The Graduate School offers several free, interrelated workshops designed to help our students navigate graduate school and become more competitive on the job market. Two of these workshops are specifically geared toward helping graduate students become better teachers— “How to Develop and Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy” and “How to Become a ‘Quick Starter’ in your First Academic Job”—while several of the workshops help students develop the confidence and skills needed to become excellent in the classroom.

• Teaching Capstone in Higher Education (TeaCHE) – In partnership with the Academy for Teaching and Learning, the Graduate School developed and supports the Teaching Capstone in Higher Education--a self-paced training for students preparing to become future faculty. With an increasingly tight and competitive job market, this capstone is intended to enhance students’ readiness to teach in higher education, thereby increasing their marketability. Out of the 78 students who have completed TeaCHE, over 30% have been nominated for a teaching award at Baylor, and—of the students who actually win teaching awards—45% have completed the TeaCHE program.

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

109

Outstanding, Excellent Teaching • New TOR Orientation – Required training for new teachers of record and lab instructors covering the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Title IX, responses to students of concern, and other related issues.

• Seminars for Excellence in Teaching (SET) – A series of free seminars on various aspects of teaching offered by Baylor’s Academy for Teaching and Learning. SET seminars facilitate the sharing of ideas and insights about teaching and learning.

• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award – Each semester, the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award honors graduate student Teachers of Record who were able to balance their own studies and responsibilities while excelling as classroom instructors.

5.8

Political Science

5.4

English

5.4

Statistics

5.3

Math

5.3

Philosophy

5.3 1

2

3

4

5

6

*Based on programs having at least three sections taught by Teachers of Record and measured by response to “I learned a great deal from this course.”

Response items include: strongly disagree, disagree, slightly disagree, slightly agree, agree, and strongly agree.

Table 21. Top Programs for Graduate Student Lab Evaluations for 2018-19* Psychology

5.7

Chem./Biochem.

5.4

Physics

5.3

Biology

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

One important measure of the success of these programs is Baylor’s student assessments of teaching. Our goal is always to aim for the high levels of teaching quality provided by Baylor’s faculty. Teaching evaluations show that, on average, Baylor graduate student Teachers of Record perform as well as Baylor faculty in the classroom.

Table 19 shows that undergraduates in classes taught by graduate students are equally likely to agree that they “learned a great deal from this course” when compared to sections taught by our faculty.

Music

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

• STEM New Lab Instructor Orientation – For the past two years, the Graduate School in partnership with the Academy for Teaching and Learning has hosted a mandatory training for graduate students who will be teaching undergraduate student lab sections for the first time.

Table 20. Top Programs for Graduate Student TOR Evaluations for 2018-19*

5.2

Geosciences

5.1

Environ. Sci.

5.1 1

2

3

4

5

6

*Measured by response to “I learned a great deal from this course.” Response items include: strongly disagree, disagree, slightly disagree, slightly agree, agree, and strongly agree.

Representative of our commitment to quality teaching, each year the Provost honors graduate students who, by a rigorous selection process, have done an exceptional job of undergraduate teaching. The 2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructors are shown below.

Table 19. Undergraduate Assessment of Perceived Learning*

Strongly 6 Agree

5 4 Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

3 2 Strongly Disagree 1

Classes Taught by Grad Student

Classes Taught by Faculty

*Measured by Baylor undergraduate responses to: “I learned a great deal from this course.” Response items include: strongly disagree, disagree, slightly disagree, slightly agree, agree, and strongly agree (average: 2017-2019).

Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor 2019 Award Winners – left to right: Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Kenneth Vaughan (Sociology), Nicholas Colgrove (Philosophy), Tori Hudgins (Mathematics), Sara Dye (English), Samantha Hodges (Biomedical Studies).

FALL 2019

10 11

Strengthening Undergraduate Education

Strengthening Undergraduate Education Evidence indicates that graduate education improves undergraduate education – from the excellent classroom instruction undergraduate students receive from graduate Teachers of Record to intentional mentoring of undergraduate students by graduate students to the participation of undergraduate students in graduate level seminars and research. The Graduate School works hard to strengthen undergraduate education as Baylor moves closer to achieving R1 status. In addition to supporting pedagogical training for graduate students, which improves the learning experience of Baylor undergraduate students, the Graduate School also supports these programs: • Graduate Mentoring of Undergraduate Students: The Graduate Student Association (GSA) connects undergraduate students interested in graduate school with graduate mentors – the Graduate/Undergraduate Mentoring Program (GUMP). Last year, more than 150 students participated in GUMP. • The McNair Scholars Program: Both the Graduate School and graduate students participate frequently in the Baylor McNair Scholars Program, which supports first-generation college students and equips them for graduate school. From mentoring McNair students in the GUMP program to teaching workshops for McNair students on how to find funding for graduate school and how to write better graduate school applications, the Graduate School invests in the McNair program to help Baylor launch first-generation college undergraduate students into top-tier graduate programs.

• The Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship Program: In partnership with the College of Arts & Sciences and the Honors College, the Graduate School will launch Baylor’s first postdoctoral teaching fellowship in 2023-2024. Specifically for Baylor doctoral graduates, the postdoctoral program enriches graduate education while simultaneously enriching undergraduate education. It provides academic departments a deep pool of welltrained doctoral instructors who are well-suited for teaching Baylor undergraduate students.

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

• Introducing STEM Recitation Sections: Starting in Fall 2020 with a pilot in the Chemistry department, the Graduate School will increase the number of doctoral lines in STEM programs responsible for teaching high-volume undergraduate courses, including CHE 1301 which enrolls more than 1000 undergraduates every semester and CHE 4341 which requires advanced problem solving for more than 600 students. The goal is to improve undergraduate education at Baylor while simultaneously moving the university toward R1 through implementing recitation sections modeled on the work of 2018 Cherry Teaching Award Winner and UCLA Chemistry Professor Neil Garg. STEM graduate students working with the faculty instructors will lead small-group discussion/problem solving sections to facilitate better learning and engagement for undergraduate students within these especially difficult courses.

Community-Building

The Graduate School invests in building community for graduate students, bringing together students in all stages of their academic journeys, helping students develop relationships that cross disciplines and cultures, and fostering positive interactions with faculty.

• Graduate Student Association (GSA): The Baylor Graduate Student Association builds a unique community specifically for graduate students at Baylor. The GSA strives to enrich the quality of academic life and community for students of each graduate program as well as advocate the rights of these students and voice their concerns. The GSA has a very good working relationship with the Graduate School, benefiting both students and faculty.

• Graduate Student Orientation – Sponsored by the GSA in partnership with the Graduate School, New Graduate Student Orientation welcomes all

Transformative Education

11 12

President Linda Livingstone greets new graduate students at Fall 2019 orientation.

new incoming graduate students shortly before the start of each Fall semester. This year, with help from the Provost, the Baylor Libraries, and the Theater department, we welcomed a recordbreaking crowd of 350 new students.

• SIC ‘EM (Student Intellectual Community Enhancement Money) – Funding for studentinitiated events to build intellectual community.

SIC ‘EM projects contribute to a vibrant intellectual community at Baylor and provide a means for informal discussion and presentation of academic work.

• Graduate Student Housing Communities and Garden at The Quadrangle and Browning Square – These communities offer accommodations within walking distance of campus for singles and students with families. Through studentled programming, these communities foster relationships across academic disciplines. Access to the Community Garden offers opportunities for residents to grow their own food.

• Women in the Academy Mentoring Program (WITA) - Each year WITA matches female graduate students with faculty mentors. By fostering friendship & community, the WITA program empowers women to embrace and develop their identities as leaders, scholars and educators. 38 women are participating in WITA for the 20192020 academic year.

• BearTracks – The Graduate School launched our first official blog in Spring 2019. It offers a platform for graduate students, graduate faculty, and the administration to provide important information for current graduate students, discuss ideas and national news relevant to graduate student life, and celebrate graduate student success.

Transformative Education

Dr. Laine Scales and graduate housing residents at Diadeloso picnic.

Illuminate upholds the call for Baylor to provide a transformational education for our students. This extremely worthy goal is extremely difficult to measure.

However, when each graduate student files for graduation, we do ask, “Knowing what you know now, would you recommend Baylor to prospective students in your field?” Exit survey responses (taken the semester of graduation) include: (1) definitely not, (2) probably not, (3) maybe, (4) probably and (5) definitely. It’s not exactly measuring transformation, but this is the closest indicator FALL 2019

12 13

Funding Graduate Education

we have. Overall, our graduate programs score well on student satisfaction – a little higher than “probably” but below “definitely,” with a mean of 4.1. Some programs do exceptionally well (a mean of 4.5 or higher) in graduating satisfied students, and they are listed below.

Table 22. Exit Survey: Most Satisfied Master’s Students* 4.9

English

4.8

Curric. & Instruction

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

History

4.6 4.5

Geosciences

4.5

School Psychology

4.5 1

2

3

4

5

*Measured by response to “Would you recommend Baylor to prospective students in your field?” Response items include: definitely not, probably not, maybe, probably, and definitely.

Table 23. Exit Survey: Most Satisfied Doctoral Students* History

4.9

Statistics

4.8 4.7

EEES

4.7

Elect. & Comp. Engr.

4.7

Philosophy

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

Mech. Engr.

4.6

Political Science

4.5

Religion

4.5 1

2

3

4.6

Statistics

4.6

Clinical Psych.

4.6

Political Science

4.5

Curric. & Instruction

4.5 4.4 4.3 1

4.6

Online MBA

Sociology

Religion

4.7

Taxation

4.7

Math

4.7

Accounting

Info. Systems

4

5

*Measured by response to “Would you recommend Baylor to prospective students in your field?” Response items include: definitely not, probably not, maybe, probably, and definitely.

Still, one could argue that our soon-to-graduate students cannot possibly know the transformational impact of their Baylor education. Our next best measure of transformational education is our doctoral alumni survey, administered to all PhD students one year after graduation, asking them the same “would you recommend” question.

We have analyzed the data from programs with 5 or more alumni responses over the past 3 years, and it indicates that some of the same programs considered transformational in exit surveys, continue to rank as transformational one year out—such as the doctoral programs in Religion, Political Science, and Statistics.

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Theater Arts

Table 24. Alumni Survey: Most Satisfied Doctoral Graduates*

2

3

4

5

*Measured one year after graduation by response to “Would you recommend Baylor to prospective students in your field?” Response items include: definitely not, probably not, maybe, probably, and definitely. (Three year rolling average for programs with five or more responses.)

Funding Graduate Education Graduate education is expensive; research-intensive programs are especially so. Yet graduate education and research are among the important characteristics that are distinctive about Baylor as a Christian university, and like other important characteristics of this university—high quality undergraduate education, strong student support services, winning athletic programs—they cost money.

Exactly how much depends on complex assumptions such as how to allocate the costs of faculty and facilities that support both graduate and undergraduate students. Still, it is incumbent on us to develop new sources of program support and revenues associated with high quality graduate education.

Last year, our faculty generated $2.8M in external research grants to pay for graduate students. That is an all-time high in external funding for graduate stipends, but we can and will do better. Another source of support comes from our professional master’s programs. As we add new programs that directly translate into high-demand professional jobs, the income they generate can assist the larger research initiative. Our rapid and strong growth in professional/online graduate education has helped hire new faculty and support new graduate students. Baylor’s move toward R1 is being greatly accelerated by our move into online education.

13 14

Graduate Student Insurance Graduate Student Insurance

Table 26. Ten-Year Doctoral Completion Rate

Table 25. Health Insurance Subsidies: Number of Eligible Graduate Students 800

600

400 Source: Baylor Graduate School

200

0

2014

2019

Retention, Graduation Rates, Time to Degree, and Debt

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

National Average

Baylor

The tables below shows our current graduation rates after 6 and 10 years. Comparing these time periods to each other is difficult since they represent different cohorts of incoming students. The first column is longer, for example, because several of our departments are still in their first decade. Nevertheless, a few observations deserve attention. Some departments have a low 6-year rate, but a high 10-year rate, which suggests that timeto-degree is the challenge rather than completion.

These traditionally include humanities fields, as is true at Baylor, but it also includes our Biology, Geosciences, and Physics departments. We are hopeful that recent changes in these departments will help in this area. On the other hand, some departments, such as Chemistry and Biochemistry, Sociology, and Mathematics, have a higher 6-year graduation rate. This suggests that recent improvements in mentoring and student support from these departments are helping retain and graduate our students. These positive trends will help us reach our goals.

Table 27. Doctoral Graduation Rates Doctoral Program Biology Biomedical Studies Chemistry & Biochemistry Clinical Psychology Curriculum & Teaching Educational Psychology Elect. & Computer Engin.

English Geology History Information Systems Exercise Nutrition Mathematics Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Religion Sociology Statistical Science Average

After Six Years*

After Ten Years*

39% 48% 43% 95% 78% 72% 61% 47% 54% 67% 81% 67% 78% 47% 13% 33% 67% 40% 82% 56% 58%

76% 71% 31% 85% 75% 79% 89% 60% 100% 66% 49% 63% 76% 62% 71% 70%

Source: Baylor Institutional Research & Testing

Nationally, retention is a serious problem for graduate schools. The Council of Graduate Schools estimates that national ten-year PhD graduation rates are only about 55%. Fortunately, Baylor’s graduation rates are better than the national norms, with a completion rate of roughly 67%. The reasons students leave PhD programs are complex, often the result of a change in their sense of vocation. Sometimes they struggle with the rigors of doctoral education or the professional expectations of the field. More often, personal factors or professional opportunities lead them in other directions. As a result, doctoral graduation rates are not expected to match those of undergraduates. Still, the national average is a low bar.

Top tier institutions often have doctoral graduation rates near 80%. That is our goal. It is what the best research universities achieve, and it is certainly what a Christian research university should aim for.

70%

Source: Baylor Graduate School

Although Baylor has offered health insurance to graduate students for over a decade, until recently only some graduate students were eligible to receive financial help in purchasing health insurance. In response to the need of our students, the Graduate School designed a new policy to reallocate existing resources in a way that expanded the number of eligible students. Today, all incoming full-time, fully-funded doctoral students and some qualifying master’s students receive an 80% subsidy for their individual insurance premiums. This change has more than doubled the number of graduate students who now receive financial assistance in purchasing health insurance. As Table 25 shows, while less than 300 students received health insurance subsidies in 2014, more than 700 students received health insurance subsidies in 2019.

*Three-year average of most recent available incoming cohort.

(2011-13 & 2007-09)

FALL 2019

14 15

Scholarly Profile of Our Faculty

The most recent National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED, 2017) reports that Baylor’s median time to doctoral degree (5.2 years) outperforms the national average at other High Research Universities (5.7 years). This relatively quick time to degree helps provide the “judicious stewardship” called for by Pro Futuris. Further, as reflected in tables 28 and 29, the past five years of SED reports indicate a growing percentage of students graduating without school debt and a decreasing percentage of students graduating with high levels of debt ($30,000 or more). This trend suggests steady progress in our attempt to help our graduates begin their careers without the burden of huge school loans.

doctoral students. Further job placement data, collected by the Graduate School within 1-3 years after graduation, suggests even higher job placement success—above 90%.

Students who earn doctoral degrees at Baylor University consistently out-perform their peers in securing jobs.

Table 30. Full-Time Employment for Baylor Doctoral Graduates

Known, Job-seeking graduates Spring 2014-Spring 2018 (N=369)

100% 90% 80%

76%

70% 60%

57%

50%

43%

40%

Table 28. Doctoral Graduates with No Debt

Source: Baylor Graduate School

30%

60%

20% 10%

50%

0%

40%

Baylor

National

Peer

30% Source: National Science Foundation

20% 10% 0%

2012

2013

2014 Baylor

2015

2016

2017

National Average

Table 29. Doctoral Graduates with High Debt

Scholarly Profile of Our Faculty Graduate programs, especially doctoral programs, cannot be successful without faculty who publish widely cited research. Our growing research prowess is clearly illustrated by the number of articles our faculty publish. We have now exceeded 1,200 articles per year in the world-wide data base of major peer-reviewed journals maintained by Clarivate Analytics.

50% 45%

Table 31. Baylor Faculty Total Publications

40%

1400

35% 30%

1200

25% Source: National Science Foundation

20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

2012

2013

2014 Baylor

2015

2016

2017

1000 800 600

National Average Source: Clarivate Analytics

400 200

Placement of Doctoral Graduates The latest NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates report offers good news about our PhD programs: 76% of students report definite employment or postdoctoral study upon graduation, a rate that exceeds both High Research Institutions (57%) like Baylor and the overall national average (43%). Because this data is collected at time of graduation, it only reflects some of the success of Baylor BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

More broadly, the Office of Institutional Research & Testing maintains the annual Academic Analytics (AcA) database that counts the publications, citations, awards, and grant dollars of every graduate faculty member of every PhD program in the nation. For 2018, AcA’s most recent release, fourteen of our PhD programs are among

15 16

External Ph.D. Program Assessments the strongest in the nation in terms of faculty scholarship, the largest number ever for Baylor. Our PhD program in Information Systems leads, with its faculty placing among the top 4% in the nation. As a point of temporal reference, in 2008, Baylor had only five PhD programs ranked in the top half. In only ten years, we have almost tripled the number of highly ranked doctoral programs measured by the scholarship of our faculty.

Table 32. Highest Academic Analytics Rankings for 2018 PhD Program

and Information Systems, have upcoming reviews.

Review teams consist of three experts chosen by the Department and approved by the Graduate School, who study documents provided by the Department and the Administration, and then spend 1.5 to 2.5 days on-campus visiting with Administrators, Graduate Faculty, Graduate Students and Staff, and touring Department facilities. All Baylor Ph.D. programs will be externally reviewed every 10 years, with an internal review conducted 5 years after the external review.

National Percentile

Information Systems Religion Philosophy Exercise Nutrition Environmental Science Entrepreneurship Higher Edu. Studies & Leadership Biomedical Studies Educational Psychology Sociology Earth, Ecol., and Environ. Sciences Health Services Research Mathematics Biology

96 93 86 83 82 80 80 77 69 68 61 56 51 51

Source: Academic Analytics

External Ph.D. Program Assessments External assessment of our graduate programs is essential to our R1 aspirations and to providing the best education for our graduate students. Almost all research universities do this on a regular basis. This past Academic Year (2018-2019) three Baylor Ph.D. programs had external Ph.D. program assessments: Geosciences, Exercise Nutrition (KENHP), and Sociology (see Table 33). For this coming 2019-2020 Academic Year, the Environmental Sciences Department has already been reviewed, and the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Table 33. Schedule of External Assessments for Ph.D. Programs Year 2018-19 2018-19 2018-19 2019-20 2019-20 2019-20 2020-21 2020-21 2020-21

Ph.D. Program Geosciences Sociology Exercise Nutrition Environmental Science Chemistry & Biochemistry Information Systems Religion Curriculum & Instruction Electrical and Computer Engineering

College/School Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Robbins College of Health & Human Sciences Arts & Sciences Arts & Sciences Hankamer School of Business Arts & Sciences Education Engineering & Computer Science

Dates Oct. 28-30, 2018 Sept. 23-25, 2018 Nov. 4-6, 2018 Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2019 Jan. 8-10, 2020 February 26-28, 2020 Oct. 11-13, 2020 future future

Status completed completed completed completed visit scheduled scheduled scheduled arrangements pending arrangements pending FALL 2019

16

Concluding Notes: From Baylor 2012 to Illuminate This is the most dynamic time for graduate education at Baylor since 2002 and the launch of Baylor 2012. In 2002, we began to add graduate faculty, raise scholarly expectations, create and expand doctoral programs, and audaciously claim that Baylor is uniquely positioned to be a great Christian research university. The same is true today, with two significant additions: 1) We are building from a much stronger academic base than we had in 2002, and 2) We set a much more tangible research goal with R1.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, concerns about Illuminate echo concerns expressed about Baylor 2012. Just as in 2002, there are now fears that Baylor will 1) lose its emphasis on undergraduate education, 2) retreat from faith commitments, 3) and spend too much on graduate education and research.

Yet, if you judge us by the new resources allocated to undergraduate teaching, to engaging undergraduates in research, and to student life, it would seem clear that we are supporting undergraduate education more than ever before. And from my vantage point, I see how our graduate students working closely and well with undergraduates enhances the learning experience for all.

For Baylor’s faith commitments, our curriculum, hiring, and mission continue to reflect our Christian commitments. Increasingly, our faculty bring high-level scholarship to help illuminate issues that are central to Christianity. In the Graduate School, programs like Conyers, Ramm, and IABCU Scholars are without precedent at other research universities and are helping create a new generation of Christian scholars.

For financial concerns, two new and powerful drivers have emerged as ways to mitigate the high cost of research and graduate education. Perhaps the most widely publicized are the five signature academic initiatives that comprise Illuminate. The faculty appointments and research centers targeted

by Illuminate toward Health, Data Sciences, Materials Science, Human Flourishing, Leadership and Ethics, and Latin America will move us rapidly forward in graduate research. The other financial driver is already appearing in the metrics of this Report: the growing number of graduate professional programs and students. The demand for these programs exceeded my expectations and they will and already have magnified Baylor’s influence in the world.

So, seventeen years after the launch of Vision 2012, we see again the opportunities and challenges associated with Baylor’s unique position and calling. This time, I am confident that we will achieve an R1 research status and that it will not take seventeen years to reach that goal. We can and will do this.

Then, after we are R1, I am equally confident that we can continue to move forward to become, in the words of Illuminate, “America’s preeminent Christian research university.” I cannot imagine a more worthy goal for Baylor.

Larry Lyon Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School December 2019

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

17 The increased presence and active engagement of graduate students at Baylor will expand the University’s impact on the world. With master’s degrees and doctorates in hand, these accomplished men and women will pursue careers in fields across industry, academia and the medical professions. In doing so, they will carry the faith-based education they experienced at Baylor into other communities and, through their accomplishments and integrity, serve as ambassadors for Baylor’s excellence in higher education.

ILLUMINATE BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

FALL 2019

Graduate School Deans LARRY LYON, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School.

Dr. Lyon earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Sociology and joined the Baylor Sociology Department in 1975.

He began serving as Dean of Baylor’s Graduate School in 1998.

He is a Vice Provost, a Professor of Sociology, and the Director of the Baylor Center for Community Research and Development. His research interests include community sociology and faith-based higher education.

CHRIS RIOS, Associate Dean.

Dr. Rios joined the Graduate School in 2011 working in the area of professional development. In his current role as Associate Dean, he oversees enrollment management and academic technology.

He also manages the Graduate School budget and directs the Bernard Ramm Scholars program.

In addition to his service in the Graduate School, Rios teaches undergraduate courses in the Department of Religion and the College of Arts and Sciences. He also leads the annual Adjunct Teaching Workshop for the Academy for Teaching and Learning. He is a historian of science and religion with publications that include After the Monkey Trial: Evangelical Scientists and a New Creationism (Fordham University Press, 2014).

BETH ALLISON BARR, Associate Dean for Student Development Beth Allison Barr is an Associate Professor of History at Baylor University. She received her Ph.D. in Medieval History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004. Her research focuses primarily on women and gender identity in medieval English sermons, and her doctoral students mostly work on women and sermon literature, 12001700. Barr is the author of The Pastoral Care of Women in Late Medieval England and co-editor of The Acts of the Apostles: Four Centuries of Baptist Interpretation.

She is currently working on two books, Women in English Sermons, 1350-1500, and The Making of Biblical Womanhood. She is also a regular contributor to The Anxious Bench, a religious history blog on Patheos where she often writes about graduate education.

STEVEN DRIESE, Associate Dean for Research.

Dr. Driese joined the Baylor faculty as the Chair of the Geosciences Department in August, 2004, serving until 2013, when he became the Graduate Program Director. Prior to coming to Baylor he taught at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (19822004). He obtained his B.S. degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Driese has published 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and his research areas include reconstructing past landscapes, climates and atmospheric chemistry from fossil soils, which are known as “paleosols”. His research investigations involve both field and laboratory components, and use modern soils as analogs for interpreting paleosols. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is an Honorary Member of SEPM (The Society for Sedimentary Geology).

Graduate School Staff SHEILA DOOLEY, Assistant to the Dean and Vice Provost.

Sheila began working with the Graduate School in November of 2019. She is responsible for coordinating the Dean’s calendar, gathering doctoral student publication data and planning the Doctoral Dinner each semester.

She also administers Graduate Council meetings, the PhD assessment process, and the degree proposal process.

SANDRA HARMAN, Dissertation & Thesis Coordinator.

Sandra came to Baylor in 1987 and has worked with graduate education most of that time. Review of dissertations and theses is one of her primary roles in the Graduate School, along with the administration of the Graduate School Travel Awards program.

ANNA HENDERSON, Administrative Manager, Office of the Dean.

Anna has worked in the Graduate School since 2007. She is the manager for the Tuition & Stipend Authorization System and administers stipend enhancements and the Presidential Scholars fund. She also manages Graduate School budget processes, publishes the Annual Report, and serves as the program coordinator for Baylor in Oxford.

TOSHA HENDRICKSON, Admissions and Recruitment Director.

Tosha joined the Graduate School in 2016. She directs the operations of the Graduate Admissions office, serving as administrator for access to the admissions database, keeping the online listing of Graduate Faculty, and updating the online graduate application. She also aids the Associate Dean with enrollment management and manages recruiting funds.

ALANNA MARTINEZ, Program Coordinator, Graduate Student and Faculty Development.

Alanna joined the Graduate School in 2014 and administers TOR benefits, outstanding graduate student awards, and GPS programs. She assists with Graduate Orientation and New GPD Orientation, works with the various graduate scholars groups, serves as the contact for the Graduate Student Association and oversees short-term leave benefits.

CANDICE PROSE, Graduate Student Records Coordinator Candice has worked at Baylor since 2012. She assists the Director of the Graduate School with student records, catalog, the Graduate Curriculum Committee, and graduation certification.

ALANA SCHAEPER, Admissions Specialist.

Alana began working at the Graduate School in 2018. As Admissions Specialist, she assists with application questions, processes admissions decisions, and helps manage the GoGrad application system. Alana also plays an active role in communicating with prospective graduate students.

LAURA SEPANSKI, Admin. Associate for Admissions & Recruitment.

Laura joined the Graduate School in September 2018 as part of the Graduate Admissions team. She answers inquiries regarding the graduate admissions process, welcomes visitors, and assists with general office operations.

SHERRY SIMS, Director of the Graduate School Office.

Sherry has worked in the Graduate School since 1981. She serves as the degree planner for all graduate programs and certifies students for graduation. She also works with the administration to implement changes to existing curriculum, policy changes, new degree programs, and new courses.

She is also responsible for the Graduate Catalog and making sure all policies and degree plans are included and current.