Baylor Graduate Professional Education Sets Ambitious Goal
Graduate Professional Education (GPE) is working in collaboration with Baylor’s colleges and schools to expand the portfolio of offerings and increase enrollment. It is our goal to bring quality Baylor offerings rich in Christian values to professionals from across the nation by providing courses through various mediums. Through Baylor’s academic rigor, professionals will gain skills they can put into practice immediately and graduate from our programs with the knowledge to become leaders in their industry.
Vice Provost for Institutional Research & Professional Education Dr. Gary Carini is always looking at what is next, what are the careers of the future, what skills are going to be needed to succeed in a changing world, and most importantly, how can Baylor address those needs. GPE was created with the mission of innovating and educating in emerging fields while providing the institutional agility needed to bring new offerings from idea to classroom in as little time as possible. “At the same time, we are focused on helping professionals gain the skills and knowledge they need to grow in their current positions or find new career paths while cultivating a community that provides a high-touch learning experience and support to ensure each student succeeds,” says Dr. Carini.
GPE represents over 3,500 students, offering 22 degree programs in an ever-expanding catalog of online and hybrid professional degree programs. Cece Lively, Director of Portfolio Management, is continually researching new offerings to share with our various schools and colleges. She is also working in conjunction with the deans to flesh out ideas that they are considering to serve their students’ needs and department goals. You can look forward to a new centralized dashboard full of resources and ideas for your program, making it a one-stop shop for all your new program needs.
In this era of growth for GPE, we have already brought several resources in-house, with plans to continue bolstering our resources to better partners across Baylor’s campuses. Some of the resources readily available to you today are:
- Program management assistance
- In-depth consultation and market data on program concepts
- Curriculum development assistance
- Program-level marketing guidance
Dina Florian, Associate Director for Enrollment, is implementing a tool that will provide in-depth information for both potential students and administrators. On the administration side, enrollment teams will soon have information streams about program applicants and where they are in the admissions process so they can be nurtured to enrollment and beyond. This platform will also collect important enrollment data which will provide in-depth information regarding applicant behavioral trends throughout the process, showing administrators where to improve and optimize communications and student engagements. For the applicants, their portal will change depending on where they are in the admissions process, providing them with information relevant to their current stage and enhancing the overall application experience.
With a strong and growing portfolio, GPE is eager to support program enrollments by positioning Baylor as a world-class provider of online and hybrid professional programs. As GPE expands its marketing to bolster individual program advertising activities, Kate Blom-Lowery is supporting each program to optimize its digital marketing campaigns to drive leads and build awareness. As our digital marketing matures and access to our own first party data increases, GPE is poised to serve as a resource, providing programs consultation on marketing optimizations, engagement campaigns, and testing that will support the programs in meeting their enrollment goals.
We pride ourselves on our ability to find new ways to innovate and become the best versions of ourselves. Part of this is taking our collective experiences and converting them into Baylor grown and owned systems, optimized for the University’s success. With access to market data and tools, the development of internal platforms and processes to support enrollment, and marketing campaigns to build awareness, GPE is prepared to stay at the forefront of professional education across the nation.
Do you have an idea for a new offering? Contact GPE.