McCaw announces new strategic plan

By Daniel Hill
Sports Writer

On Tuesday, Baylor Athletics and Baylor University Director of Athletics Ian McCaw debuted a new strategic five-year plan that details goals for the entire department.

Primarily, the new strategic plan has five central focuses: student-athlete experience; athletic excellence; culture of integrity; resource development and stewardship; and branding and engagement.

“Baylor Athletics will continue to support, promote and reflect the university’s Christian educational mission as outlined in Pro Futuris through its staff, student-athletes and nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics programs,” McCaw said. “We strive to be the nation’s premier Christian intercollegiate athletic program, one that is recognized nationally and within the Big 12 Conference as a program of excellence through its integrity, academic and athletic achievements.”

The central goal of Baylor Athletics is to afford each student-athlete with the highest-quality academic, athletic, spiritual and social experience.

Not only should the student-athletes have a quality experience off of the field, but also they should be in an environment that produces competitive athletic success.

Baylor’s values as an institution should also be reflected in its athletics experience.

Baylor student-athletes also should be able to thrive in an environment where promotion of trust, good sporting conduct, compliance, service, equity and diversity will be established and maintained.

Aside from doing things the right way, the Baylor Athletics department would also like to increase their revenue streams, which will help ensure financial competitiveness within the Big 12 Conference.

In Waco and across the nation, Baylor would like to strengthen the Baylor brand and engage constituents in the University’s life.

After Baylor experienced profound success in every sport across the board in 2011 in “Year of the Bear”, Baylor would like to increase their national brand.

Part of the new plan also calls for every sport to achieve competitive success and for Baylor to be recognized as one of the nation’s premier athletic programs.

In the updated athletic plan, Baylor also wants to ensure that all sports programs are provided with athletic facilities that are among the best in the Big 12 Conference and the nation.

Along with facilities, Baylor also wants to hire and retain coaches and administrators that are among the most talented in their fields.

Baylor doesn’t want to just hire the best coaches, but they also want the values of the coach to reflect those of the university.

The Baylor Athletics program also wants to establish a positive, dynamic and supportive work environment for all department staff.

This means that Baylor wants to conduct professional development opportunities for administrative staff in support of building current and future athletic administration leaders.

One of the central goals of the new athletics vision is to create and maintain a culture of integrity in all aspects.

This means that Baylor will promote a Christian environment where promotion of trust, good sporting conduct, compliance, service, equity and diversity will be established and maintained.

Another responsibility of Baylor Athletics is to generate revenue to support all of the Baylor athletic teams.

Part of this responsibility for revenue includes increasing Baylor’s presence in Waco.

One initiative of this five-year plan is to get Baylor signage, flags, schedule cards and posters to be displayed in more than 1,000 Waco businesses.

Baylor also would like to increase its national presence through increased media exposure, as women’s basketball senior post Brittney Griner doing at an ESPN “Car Wash” in Bristol, Conn.

Her trip includes stops at Mike and Mike (8:40 a.m. CDT), espnW, ESPN The Magazine and SportsCenter (10:40 a.m. CDT).

Afternoon activities include additional interviews and rotating through various stations which include still photography and video shoots.

You can follow her activities and get a behind-the-scenes look by following the official Twitter feed of Baylor Women’s Basketball, @BaylorWBB.

This includes the completion of a 13-year grant of television rights to the Big 12 Conference schools.

Another main goal of the new five-year plan is to increase Baylor spirit and enhance the fan experience.

This includes involving more students in athletics events by strengthening the relationship between Athletics Marketing and Student Life.

“We will regularly review this plan and update it as change and new ideas occur,” McCaw said. “This plan remains consistent with Baylor’s mission and our vision for the future. These goals and action items are designed to provide the very best experience for Baylor’s student-athletes.”