Message from the Dean: Fall 2019

Focus on the Future

We are almost finished celebrating our Centennial year, and we have commemorated our past 100 years in numerous exciting ways. A virtual celebration is ongoing on our Centennial website, which showcases the history of the School of Education and the unique ways in which its early leaders influenced education in Texas, the nation and the world. That influence continues today, and this special issue of Impact provides a written record of our history and a glimpse into our future.

On the following pages, our three department chairs provide a look at their departments and the outlook for their respective disciplines. An innovative energy is evident in the School of Education and our academic departments, and it is fueled by the forward-thinking strategies of Baylor’s Council of Deans; our new Provost, Dr. Nancy Brickhouse; and President Linda A. Livingstone, PhD.

Achieving the goals of Baylor’s strategic plan, Illuminate, will move Baylor University into the Carnegie category of Research 1 universities. Baylor’s ambitious Give Light development campaign will help provide the endowment needed to reach our academic and research goals without compromising our Christian mission nor our commitment to transformational undergraduate education.

Goals in the School of Education reflect the Illuminate journey. For example, the fall 2019 class of new faculty in the School represents an intellectually elite and diverse group poised to join our already talented faculty and elevate our research capacity with high-impact research productivity. Our nationally recognized program of teacher preparation uses a model of deep clinical training, coupled with expert faculty guidance, that prepares educators to impact the world.

Newly launched innovative programs, such as the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), represent novel approaches to graduate education that extend Baylor and the School’s reach to students who want to become teachers and leaders in educational settings. Through the MAT, all undergraduates — SOE and otherwise — will have the option of pursuing a teaching certificate and a master’s degree simultaneously.

I am proud of our School’s heritage, but I am inspired by the way our faculty are leaning into the future and the direction of change — much of it uncertain. But that is what great universities do — they innovate, experiment and stay focused on expanding opportunities for learning.