2018 Elsewhere at Baylor
Mission Teams Provide Harvey and Hunger Relief
Three Baylor University mission teams served in Texas over spring break to provide relief for those affected by Hurricane Harvey, as well as by hunger, homelessness and many other circumstances. More than 60 students, faculty and staff traveled across the state to serve in schools, nonprofits, neighborhoods, respite centers and community buildings.
“This mission trip opened my eyes to those in need in my own backyard,” said Ashanta Lewis, BSN, RN, lecturer in the Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas and a co-leader on the McAllen nursing mission trip. “I was able to provide care and spread God’s love, even if for a little while.”
Lewis, along with two other leaders and 15 Baylor nursing students traveled to McAllen.
The team provided respite care, community services and education to those in need. The students supplied necessary items for hygiene and personal care, nutrition services for adults and children, clean clothes and shoes.
The second team from Baylor Missions went to Bear Creek—– a community in Houston—to provide Hurricane Harvey relief. Thirty-eight students from a variety of academic disciplines assisted the community and surrounding neighborhoods with landscaping, home improvement and meeting community needs.
On Jan. 24, Baylor hosted its “Change the World in a Day” service in Chapel, and students donated $10,000 for Harvey relief. This money was used to purchase a variety of appliances, tools and supplies for those affected. The team at Bear Creek was able to deliver, use and install these items in the community.
The final group, the Hunger in Texas team, served in a variety of Texas cities as part of a different kind of relief effort for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. Eight Baylor students traveled to the Gulf coast to help with recovery efforts and gain insight on the depth and breadth of the hurricane’s impact. While in the Coastal Bend region, the team cleared debris, mucked houses and organized donated supplies.
All around Texas, Baylor students and leaders served together to make a difference in the lives and homes of many. At the heart of Texas, Baylor University is living out its mission of service every day through service trips, community involvement and relief efforts.
Music Professor Receives Grammy Nomination
Brian A. Schmidt, DMA, associate professor of choral music in Baylor’s School of Music, and the choir he founded, the South Dakota Chorale, are giving voice to the music of Holocaust victim Marcel Tyberg. They are receiving critical acclaim – and Grammy Award nominations – for their efforts.
Born in 1893 in Vienna, Austria, Tyberg composed symphonies, choral music and other works in the neo-Romantic style. He was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo, despite only one-sixteenth Jewish heritage, and later died at the Auschwitz death camp.
Prior to his arrest, Tyberg entrusted the manuscripts to Dr. Milan Mihich. They were later passed to Mihich’s son, Enrico, who sought ways to bring the work to light. Over the last 10 years, some of Tyberg’s orchestral, chamber and piano works have gained a following, but his sacred compositions – two Catholic masses – remained unexplored until a colleague brought them to Schmidt’s attention.
In addition to Schmidt’s and the South Dakota Chorale’s Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance, the Tyberg: Masses album was nominated in the Best Engineered Album–Classical (with Boston-based Sound Mirror), Best Surround Sound Album and Producer of the Year–Classical categories.
Global Baylor: A Plan to Foster Student Learning Through Deepened Global Engagement
Baylor has launched a new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)– an important component of ongoing SACS-COC accreditation. Global Baylor: Addressing Challenges to Human Flourishing will advance internationalization across campus in support of our mission “to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service.”
The QEP contains four interrelated initiatives that are designed to foster student learning by deepening global engagement.
Global Challenges will introduce students to the concept of global equity and human flourishing within the context of a particular global issue. Beginning in 2018 and for the following three years, this challenge will be global health, a global challenge that cuts across all academic disciplines and invites participation from the entire Baylor community.
Enhanced International Travel Experiences will provide new and expanded opportunities for student travel through both study abroad and international missions, with more intentional focus on student learning outcomes and experiential learning associated with their travel.
Diversity Abroad will undertake efforts to make international opportunities more readily available to students of color, first generation students and students from other diverse or underrepresented backgrounds so they can benefit from the invaluable learning opportunities associated with international education.
Global Baylor will seek to coordinate the many international events and activities across campus and beyond in order to maintain our community focus on global challenges and also to celebrate our responses to these issues through student, staff and faculty research and engagement.
Baylor Programs Ranked in U.S. News’ 2019 Edition of Best Graduate Schools
Graduate programs at Baylor in law, business, nursing and health disciplines, education, engineering, the sciences and social sciences and humanities were among those nationally ranked in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, released in March.
The rankings in business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing, including specialties in each area, are based on two types of data: expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students. The data for these rankings come from statistical surveys and reputation surveys sent to more than 20,500 academics and professionals.
Beyond the six major disciplines ranked annually, U.S. News also periodically ranks programs in science, social sciences and humanities, health and many other areas based solely on academic experts’ ratings.
This year, U.S. News has published fresh academic reputation rankings of doctoral programs in criminology and criminal justice; master’s degree programs in social work and public affairs and related specialty areas; and doctoral programs in the sciences, specifically in biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, mathematics, physics and statistics.
The latest rankings are published online at usnews.com and in the “Best Graduate Schools 2019” guidebook.
Latino Leaders Magazine Names Baylor to List of Best Colleges
Baylor University has been named to the Latino Leaders Magazine list of the top 50 colleges and universities for Latinos. This ranking focuses on universities that have exceeded traditional practices and continue to provide Latino students with helpful guidance and support to pursue their career aspirations.
“As an institution, we are committed to creating an environment on campus that enriches the experience of all our students through the celebration and understanding of self and others,” said Elizabeth D. Palacios, PhD, dean for student development at Baylor and special assistant to the president on diversity. “As our Latino community continues to grow, so will our commitment to developing worldwide leaders through cultural knowledge, understanding and authentic interaction.”
Baylor’s student body continues to reflect the broader demographic shifts that have occurred in Texas and the United States, with the University’s enrollment from underrepresented groups rising to 35.3 percent of the overall student body in Fall 2017. As the University’s student body evolves, Baylor has focused on building programs, completing agreements and organizing initiatives that provide an environment of acceptance and support for students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.
