Introduction from the Dean
From Becoming R1 to Being R1
Larry Lyon, Vice Provost & Dean of the Graduate School
The metrics that validated Baylor’s ascent to a Carnegie Very High Research Status, or R1, are straightforwardly measurable. Precise counts of research doctoral graduates, post docs and research expenditures combine in various prescribed ways to determine a university’s research status. When we had “enough” on each of these measures, Baylor became an R1 university.
We regularly assessed those measures to determine how and when Baylor might become R1. Happily, remarkably, we achieved R1 this year, three years ahead of our projections. We appropriately celebrated our achievement with banners, billboards, and even a party featuring the Golden Wave Band and fireworks at McLane Stadium.
To paraphrase a song from a former Baylor student, now that we’ve turned out the McLane lights and the party’s over, what’s next? After focusing on becoming R1, how do we shift to being R1? One answer I’ve heard a lot is that we should still focus on the metrics associated with becoming R1 so that we will not fall back to R2. That answer has the virtue of encouraging the Graduate School growth and research productivity that led to Baylor becoming R1 in the first place and keeps us from resting on our newly won laurels. However, my reading of the Carnegie metrics is that unless there is a major restructuring of the Carnegie Classifications, Baylor’s R1 status is secure.
There is another and, I believe, better way of responding to our new research status. The response does not have the straightforward objective metrics of our R1 pursuit, but it subjectively corresponds more closely with our mission and vision. A clear connection exists between Baylor’s founders believing the world needed a Christian university “fully susceptible of enlargement and development to meet the needs of all the ages to come,” and President Livingstone’s bold claim that “the world needs a Baylor because the world needs a preeminent research university that is unambiguously Christian.” Achieving R1 status is a necessary milestone along Baylor’s path, but it is hardly the finish line. Being R1 should be quite different from becoming R1. Being R1 requires that Baylor decides what it means to be a research university that is Christian. The short answer is that it means a lot; the longer answer is that we are still learning because it surely means a very different Baylor than the one we are familiar with.
Some changes seem clear: Our students will be better prepared academically. Student research opportunities will expand. Faculty hiring will compete against stronger universities. Endowed chairs will significantly grow in number and importance. Our research infrastructure will be greatly enhanced. And these kinds of changes should reflect and enhance our Christian mission. How we do these things is what being R1 means to Baylor. This Annual Report describes the Graduate School’s efforts at creating that unambiguously Christian, preeminent research university, i.e., a uniquely Baylor way of being R1.
We are now working on the “how” we can be an R1 Graduate School. The strategic plan outlined below guides our initial efforts.
Graduate School Strategic Plan for Being R1
Goal 1: Elevate the significance of our Christian mission within the activities of the Graduate School.Actions
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Goal 2: Increasingly recruit R1-quality students who are prepared for the rigors of a PhD education.Actions
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Goal 3: Enhance student success in PhD programs by raising the PhD graduation rate from 65% to 80% by 2027. Programs that have already achieved this level include Curriculum and Teaching, Philosophy, History, Sociology, and Mathematics.Actions
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Goal 4: Pursue greater growth in areas that align with Illuminate.Actions
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Goal 5: Provide more support for our growing numbers of graduates and professional students in our hybrid/online programs.Actions
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Goal 6: Support faculty in achieving the high expectations of mentoring with doctoral students in an R1 university.Actions
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Goal 7: Address the diversity priorities of the university.Actions
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In developing these seven goals for our strategic plan, I learned that our new R1 status presents quite different assessments than our previous R2 classification. Comparing our graduate school metrics to R1 universities results in much more ambitious goals. The recruitment of our incoming students, the expected level of support for those students, the requirements for mentoring them, the challenges of online support, and the expectations for student success must all become more rigorous when compared with our new R1 peers. Reaching these goals will be difficult, but that is how it must be if Baylor seeks “enlargement and development to meet the needs of all the ages to come.”