Dear Colleagues,

Spring on campus can often be one of transitions, and this year is no exception. We’re delighted to welcome a new dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), Dr. Daniel Pack. Dean Pack will join us from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on June 1. We are grateful for the stewardship of Interim Dean Erich Baker, who has shepherded ECS since August 2022 and whose leadership as chair of Computer Science from 2019-2022 has contributed to significant growth in our research endeavors, providing new opportunities for students in Data Science—one of the fastest-growing majors on campus.

We have two vice provost searches underway, one in Global Engagement and one in Faculty Affairs. Interviews are currently taking place for both positions and hiring decisions will be announced later in the spring. The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs position will be an internal hire.

As announced on January 31, Dean Gary Mortenson will be retiring in July of 2024. Dean Mortenson has served as the Dean of the School of Music since 2015. He also served as provost (with Gary Carini) in 2018-2019, just prior to my arrival. Dean Mortenson’s commitment to the artistic development of our students and faculty is apparent in both the world-class performances of the School of Music and the success of our graduates. Not only has Dean Mortenson provided outstanding leadership for the School of Music, his contributions to the university and its mission have been very significant. He will be missed both within the School of Music and in the larger Baylor community. A nationwide search will be conducted for the next dean of the School of Music in the 2023-2024 academic year. A search committee will be convened later this this spring semester, assisted by an external search firm with expertise in schools of fine and performing arts.

Also transitioning from his tenure at the Law School is Dean Brad Toben. Dean Toben joined the Baylor Law faculty in 1983 and was named dean in 1991 at the age of 36. He is the longest-serving dean in the nation among the American Bar Association-accredited law schools. Dean Toben has had a profound impact on Baylor Law. He has hired approximately 90% of the faculty and staff in the Law School. The Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center is the product of his vision and his labor. His knowledge of and relationships with the Baylor Law community run very deep. Baylor’s Law School is largely the product of the team Brad has created and cultivated for decades - and it is a very healthy law school. Associate Dean Patricia Wilson will serve as Interim Dean of the Law School beginning in July. A nationwide search will commence for Dean Toben’s successor in the fall of 2023. As with the School of Music, the search committee will be selected in the spring and the search process will be assisted by an external search firm.

Finally, Dean Larry Lyon, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, has announced his retirement intentions, slated for the summer of 2025. This transition will be a longer timeline, and we look forward to enjoying Dean Lyon’s experience for a few more years.

These three individuals collectively hold more than 90 years of wisdom and experience working at Baylor University. They will be deeply missed, and we look forward to sharing in the opportunities to celebrate their good work in the days ahead.

Transitions are bittersweet. We rejoice in the new people joining our Baylor community, celebrating our old friends and colleagues who are off to new adventures while still craving their presence with us. Know that I share in all of those feelings alongside you. As we move through this spring semester together, may we delight in the fresh opportunities before us and honor those upon whose foundations we stand.

All the best,

Nancy Brickhouse

Artificial Intelligence-Produced Assignments

In the upcoming Virtual Spring Faculty Meeting, we will share information and resources on dealing with artificial intelligence (AI)-produced assignments, including those from ChatGPT. Baylor’s Office of Academic Integrity has a website with suggestions for faculty and staff in light of this developing technology.

Cherry Award Recipient Welcomed to Campus

The Office of the Provost and the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum & Instruction are honored to host Cherry Award winner Dr. Hollylynne S. Lee, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education at North Carolina State University, for the spring semester.

A K-12 teacher before her career in higher education, Dr. Lee is teaching two upper-level undergraduate courses at Baylor — “Critical Issues in Mathematics Education” in the School of Education and “Data and Chance” in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Celebrating Baylor’s Fulbright Milestone

February 28, 1:30-3:00 p.m., Cox Reception Hall, Armstrong Browning Library
For the first time, Baylor has been named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for US students, a recognition given to universities that received the highest number of applicants selected for the Fulbright US Student Program. Hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Engaged Learning, this event will celebrate this momentous milestone and the faculty and staff who have contributed while also launching the process and providing information about next year’s Fulbright cycle. All are welcome.

Vice Provost’s Corner

Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

Bryce C. Brown Research Fellowship
The Bryce C. Brown Research Fellowship provides opportunities and a stipend for Baylor University graduate students, faculty, and researchers interested in using the Mayborn Museum's natural and cultural history collections. Application materials are due March 17, 2023. For more information, contact Sabrina Thomas or visit the Mayborn Museum’s website.

Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Belonging

Shining a Light on African Americans and Digital Humanities
February 22, 2:30 p.m. - Hosted on Zoom 
Horace Maxile, Malcolm Foley, Ron Johnson, Stephen Reid, and Josh Been explore some of the many ways African American stories can be researched and presented using a digital humanities approach. Email university_libraries@baylor.edu for Zoom credentials.

Invitation to Reception Celebrating the Teaching and Research of Baylor Women Faculty
March 14, 3:30 p.m., the Great Hall, George W. Truett Theological Seminary
All are welcome to a reception celebrating the teaching and research achievements of our female faculty at Baylor University. Register for this event by clicking here.

Vice Provost for Global Engagement

Spring 2023 International Graduate Student Workshops Available
Please share the below information with any international graduate students in your sphere of influence. All workshops will be held in Moody 104 Active Learning Lab from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please contact Tanya Vernon. To register, click the links below.

• March 2- Making Connections for a Smoother Writing Flow.
• April 13- Summarizing and Paraphrasing Effectively.

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Institutional Effectiveness

Important Announcement regarding Curriculum Change Proposals
The University is implementing a new system to manage curriculum change proposals starting with the 2024-2025 catalog year. Consistent with the dates we have used in the past, any proposed revisions to existing undergraduate programs or courses must be submitted through the Curriculum Change Request (CCR) and Electronic Course Action (ECA) systems, respectively, no later than Wednesday, February 22, 2023. The ECA system will remain open through Monday, May 15, to support the other (non-undergraduate) 2023-2024 catalogs in process. Once these deadlines have passed, we will be shutting down both systems, with the new system launching in September 2023. If you have any questions about these dates or the implementation of the new system, please contact Hannah King.

Academy for Teaching & Learning (ATL) Announcements
Seminars for Excellence in Teaching – click the session title to register!

• February 16, 10:30 a.m.- Revisiting Teaching Innovation (Dr. Lenore Wright).
• February 28, 12:30 p.m.- Understanding and Supporting the Student Athlete (Lauren Kirby).

RE: Connected – The Future of University Culture and Technology: The ATL and University Libraries invite proposals from members of the Baylor community to share their experiences at this exciting showcase. Learn more here.

ATL Teaching Guides and Additional Resources: Looking for reliable and accessible advice on teaching? Check out the ATL Teaching Guides and other program offerings online.

Paul L. Foster Success Center Updates

• Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE).
  • Progress Reports- Please ensure that you submit progress reports for any student at risk in your course. Learn more and find instructions for submitting a report by clicking here. The spring semester progress report campaign will run from February 20-March 6. For more information, please contact Dr. Whitney Jones, Senior Director of CASE.
• Student Opportunity and Accessibility Resources (SOAR).
  • Baylor's on-campus food pantry, The Store, underwent renovations during the winter break and is now better equipped to serve our students. Visit The Store's website to learn more about resources available for students.  

Important Academic Dates

Additional deadlines are available on the Academic Units Deadlines calendar.

• February 15- Annual faculty performance reviews due to deans.
• February 15- Deadline for faculty to appeal negative departmental recommendations for promotion to clinical professor.
• February 15- Last day for departmental review meetings of third-year clinical assistant professors’ progress and performance and second- and fourth-year regular lecturers.
• February 15- Deadline for tenure evaluations of 4th-year tenure-track faculty.
• February 15- Provost will submit recommendations to the president regarding clinical associate professor and senior lecturer appointments.
• February 15- President makes the final promotion to full professor decision.
• February 21- Virtual Spring Faculty Meeting.
• February 24- Faculty evaluation deadline for deans to return forms to chairs.
• February 27- Deadline to collect colleague evaluation forms for 4th-year tenure-track candidates, clinical assistant professors, and 2nd- and 4th-year regular lecturers.
• March 1- President will report decisions regarding senior lecturer and clinical associate professor appointments to the provost.
• March 1- Chairs should initiate any emeritus professor recommendations to deans this month.
• March 1- Dean recommendations for clinical associate professor promotion to the rank of clinical professor due to the provost.
• March 2- Dean notification to regular lecturer regarding promotion to senior lecturer.
• March 3- Deadline for chairs (or deans in single-departments schools) to enter final ratings in Ignite.
• March 6- Chair summary letter for 4th-year tenure-track faculty is due to the dean.
• March 6- Chair summary reports of 2nd- and 4th-year regular lecturers and clinical assistant professors are due to the dean.
• March 7- Faculty data review/confirmation by business officers.
• March 13- Faculty merit recommendation process commences with chairs.
• March 15- Deadline for deans to submit copies of evaluation forms to the provost.
• March 15- Provost will inform the president of the recommendation to promote clinical associate professor to clinical professor.

Spotlight on the Academy

George W. Truett Theological Seminary

Upcoming Events in February
Please join Baylor’s Truett Seminary for the 2023 Racism in the White Church Conference on February 16-18 and for the annual Dobbs Lecture on February 27-28. Both events require registration and are free for Baylor students, faculty, and staff. To learn more and register, please click the event titles.

Hankamer School of Business

Dr. Stolze Appointed Inaugural Crenshaw Endowed Chair
Dr. Hannah Stolze has been appointed the inaugural William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management in the Department of Management in the Hankamer School of Business. Dr. Stolze, who developed an interest in the supply chain in the U.S. Army before establishing an academic career marked by highly regarded research and program development, comes to Baylor from Lipscomb University and Wheaton College.

New Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs
Dr. Bradley Lail, professor and chair for the Department of Accounting and Business Law, was named associate dean of Undergraduate Programs at the Hankamer School of Business. The appointment begins June 1, 2023.

Faculty Awards
Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics faculty members Drs. Hope Koch and Tim Kayworth received the Best Information Systems (IS) Publications Award from the Association for Information Systems. The award recognizes researchers for high-quality work published in the IS discipline.

Honors College

Dr. Jonathan Tran Appointed Associate Dean for Faculty 
Baylor University’s Honors College has appointed Dr. Jonathan Tran, formerly Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion in the College of Arts & Sciences, as Associate Dean for Faculty. In addition to his administrative role, Dr. Tran now holds a tenured position as Associate Professor of Theology in the Great Texts Program. Tran’s appointment was effective January 1.

School of Education

Dr. Rishi Sriram Selected to Scholars Program
Dr. Rishi Sriram, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, has been named a Senior Scholar by ACPA (American College Personnel Association), a leading association in the field of higher education student affairs that advocates for the integration of research and scholarship in the practice of student affairs.

School of Engineering and Computer Science

Ning Zhang receives NSF Career Award
Dr. Ning Zhang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, received the National Science Foundation Career Award. She joined the School of Engineering and Computer Science in the fall of 2022.

School of Music

Celebration Service for the Naming of Baylor’s Center for Christian Music Studies
We invite you to celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Harold Dunn, whose bequest will impact Baylor’s Center for Christian Music Studies. The dedication will be held at Truett Seminary in the Paul Powell Chapel on February 23 at 3 p.m. When asked how he felt about making this bequest a decade ago, Harold responded: “In all my years of musical experience, I have never before come across an opportunity with such soul-stirring potential.”

Baylor Oboist Announced as Principal Oboist with Orquesta Theatro Sao Pedro
Baylor School of Music oboist Nicolas Nemitz has just been announced as the winner of an international audition for the position of Principal Oboe with the Orquesta Theatro Sao Pedro in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nicolas studied oboe at Baylor with School of Music professor Dr. Euridice Alvarez.

University Libraries

Irina Ratushinskaya: Triumph of the Spirit
February 24, 2023, 3:00 p.m., Moody 104 Active Learning Lab 
Xenia Dennen, Chair of the Keston Institute in the United Kingdom and a Soviet expert, will offer the Keston Spring Lecture remembering Ratushinskaya’s “triumph of the spirit” on the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
 
My Tribute: The Life and Legacy of Andraé Crouch
March 15-18, 2023 
This year's Pruit Memorial Symposium opens with a reception honoring Robert Darden and features panels and presentations by leading scholars of black gospel music, a Community Gospel Sing at Second Missionary Baptist Church, and a tribute concert in Jones Concert Hall.

Previous issues of the Provost's Newsletter can be accessed on the Office of the Provost website.