Position Summary
Provost: Baylor University
Baylor University is seeking a highly respected scholar with exceptional accomplishments in research, teaching, and administration to join the leadership team of President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. The new provost will come to Baylor at a time of great optimism and significant momentum. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas and affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baylor is both the state’s oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning and the world’s largest Baptist university. Baylor, a nationally ranked private, Christian institution with more than 17,000 students, is located in Waco, Texas, which is centrally located between Dallas and Austin and in the midst of a dramatic revitalization.
Baylor's dynamic president, now in her second year, has infused the University community with new energy and excitement as students, faculty, and staff join with the president in looking forward to the appointment of a new academic leader. The new provost will find a welcoming community ready to join in helping to create an even greater Baylor - preparing men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.
President Livingstone enthusiastically embraced Baylor’s previous strategic vision, Pro Futuris, which focused on five aspirational principles: Transformational Education, Compelling Scholarship, Informed Engagement, Committed Constituents, and Judicious Stewardship. Pro Futuris boldly asserted the University’s intention to seek to enter “the top tier of American research universities while deepening our Christian commitment. We are inspired as we continue to grow and be known as a Carnegie Research University with Very High Research Activity that resolutely embraces its Christian identity.”
The president has enlarged the scope of that vision in Illuminate, a newly adopted and ambitious strategic plan designed to allow Baylor to achieve "R1: Highest Research Activity" status while remaining grounded in our Christian faith in the Baptist tradition. Illuminate contains four pillars that reflect the historical commitment of Baylor to be a community recognized for:
- Unambiguously Christian educational environment;
- Transformational undergraduate education;
- Research and scholarship marked by quality, impact, and visibility; and
- Nationally recognized programs in human performance through the arts and athletics.
In addition, Illuminate identifies five areas of focus:
- Health — Research and collaboration in this area will focus on environmental, family, and community determinants of health, biomedical research, health policy, law, leadership and ethics, and undergraduate health and medical education;
- Data Sciences — Research, educational, and professional training in this area will focus on biomedical informatics, cybersecurity, and business analytics, with an overarching theme of ethical uses of largescale data;
- Materials Science — Research and collaboration in this area will focus on technologies that make products faster, stronger, and lighter, providing solutions for enhanced quality of life;
- Human Flourishing, Leadership and Ethics — Research and collaboration in this area will focus on understanding the conditions by which humans, communities, and societies flourish;
- Baylor in Latin America — Research, collaboration, and engagement in this area will focus on health and disease prevention; business development and international trade; human capital formation and education; immigration, migration, and human trafficking; congregational development; democratic governance and economics; and culture and arts.
These signature initiatives will enable the creation of centers of research excellence through multidisciplinary scholarship and collaboration with faculty appointments from departments, schools, and external partners. These interdependent initiatives will connect with one another through faculty partnerships, calls for research, and provision of funding.
Additional information about Illuminate can be found at https://www.baylor.edu/illuminate.
The new provost will have the exciting opportunity to work with faculty, staff, and administrators to continue development and lead implementation of Illuminate. The new provost will be doing that from a position of strength, joining an institution blessed with a diverse and accomplished student body, an exceptional faculty committed to excellence in both teaching and scholarship, a healthy financial position, a strong endowment, and a large and wide community of faithful alumni, friends, and supporters. In support of Illuminate, the University has launched a $1.1 billion comprehensive fundraising campaign.
With such aspirations, the University is seeking an exceptional leader who has a reputation of modeling character, earning academic recognition, and delivering administrative accomplishments with a demonstrated commitment to diversity and a mature Christian faith.
Detailed Qualifications and Requirements
Candidate must have a Ph.D. or equivalent degree with academic standing sufficient for appointment as tenured, full professor and a Christian commitment. Desired personal and professional attributes are as follows:
Personal Qualities
- Integrity
- Honest, transparent, straightforward
- Respect for Baylor history and culture
- Respect for all persons and groups
- Interpersonal Relations Skills
- Effective listener
- Effective communicator
- Approachable
- Empathetic
- Collaborative
- Team oriented
- Accessible
- Respectful of others
- Effective facilitator
- Empowering
- Humility
- Leader for academic enterprise
- Colleague supporting the President
- Colleague working with peers on the President's Council
Professional Qualities
- Experienced Administrative Leader
- R-1 institutional experience
- Appreciation for and understanding of Christian higher education
- Record of transparency regarding strategic and academic initiatives
- Record of innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives
- Administrative style that delegates and holds accountable
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity among faculty, staff, and students
- Experience as Researcher
- R-1 institutional experience desirable
- Record of significant scholarship
- Experience with and knowledge of external funding mechanisms support
- Experience as Teacher
- R-1 institutional experience desirable
- Record of quality teaching
- Effective Communicator
- Record of good listening skills
- Record of good speaking skills
- Team Builder
- Record of collaborative participation
- Record of supporting professional development of direct reports
- Demonstrated record of hiring diverse and effective team members
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will begin immediately. For full consideration, completed applications should be received no later than January 2, 2019. Off-site interviews to select finalists will be held the weekend of January 31 through February 2, 2019. Finalists will be invited to campus shortly thereafter.
Interested candidates are asked to submit a CV and a cover letter expressing interest and addressing the following:
- Provide a narrative overview of your career progression up to and including your current role. Include titles, a brief description of the working environment, and the areas for which you are responsible along with your range of responsibilities. Provide context for any promotions, advances and job changes.
- The mission of Baylor University is to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community. Please describe what you see, as Provost, as your main contributions to fulfilling this mission.
- Tell us about your Christian faith tradition and church background. Describe how your practice of your faith informs the manner in which you carry out your leadership and professional responsibilities.
- Illuminate calls Baylor to become recognized as an "R1: Highest Research Activity" university while remaining grounded in our Christian faith within the Baptist tradition. Please describe what you see as the keys to achieving this aspiration.
- Discuss how you believe diversity and empowerment play a role in a Christian academic environment, and share with us ways in which you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and empowerment in past leadership roles.
The University has retained AGB Search to assist with this search, and our consultants can provide additional information about the position. Confidential inquiries, nominations and referrals may be made to:
Sally Mason, Ph.D., Executive Search Consultant
Email: provost_search@baylor.edu; sally.mason@agbsearch.com
Phone: 765-414-0299
Baylor University is a private not-for-profit university affiliated with the Baptist General convention of Texas. As an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, Baylor is committed to compliance with all applicable anti-discrimination laws, including those regarding age, race, color, sex, national origin, marital status, pregnancy status, military service, genetic information, and disability. As a religious educational institution, Baylor is lawfully permitted to consider an applicant’s religion as a selection criterion. Baylor encourages women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities to apply.