By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
Since Baylor first received recognition from Great Colleges to Work For, the university has received recognition in nearly all of the survey’s 10 categories. Last week, Baylor was recognized in the diversity, equity and belonging category for the first time.
The recognition — which is based on faculty and staff survey results — comes the same year as Baylor’s most diverse faculty class ever for the second year in a row.
2023 data shows that Asian, African-American and Latino faculty ratios have more than doubled since 2014. Also in the last decade, the population of Baptist professors has shrunk from 41% to 32%.
English professor and Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Sara Ford said that of the categories in which Baylor was recognized, diversity and belonging still had the most room for improvement.
“Baylor has made enormous strides in developing programing and resources connected to diversity, inclusion and belonging, but this is an area that we all want to keep improving,” Ford said via email.
Great Colleges to Work For is a program that universities can sign up for to receive data on the sentiment of faculty in 10 different categories like supervisor effectiveness, diversity and compensation. The program, which began in 2008, sends a survey to a sample of faculty and staff at participating institutions, whose answers determine whether the college receives recognition in each category.
In 2016, 281 colleges participated in the survey. The number has dropped recently, with 216 participating this year. Of those 216, 75 received recognition in at least one of the categories and 42 achieved honor roll status, which is reserved for institutions recognized in many categories. Baylor has been on the honor roll for the past seven years.
Other than diversity, Baylor was recognized in seven different categories this year: job satisfaction and support, mission and pride, faculty and staff wellbeing, compensation and benefits, supervisor effectiveness, confidence in senior leadership and professional development.
For most of these categories, Baylor has been receiving recognition for over a decade. For Ford, Baylor excels in job satisfaction.
Ford said that Baylor has “an environment that encourages faculty to develop professionally, to pursue their research and to hone their teaching.”
Dr. DeAnna Toten Beard, vice provost for faculty affairs, said that initiating new faculty into this environment is incredibly important, and that the faculty onboarding process is a big part of why Baylor receives recognition so often in areas like job satisfaction.
Toten Beard, who helps lead faculty orientation, said that the days before class are as focused on “connecting to the ethos of Baylor” as they are on logistics.
“We spend time in devotional and prayer. We spend time talking about the emotions of transitioning into a new job. We spend time getting to know each other,” Toten Beard said.
New faculty also have other community activities, like a dinner with all of their families and President Linda Livingstone. The goal behind the community-building, Toten Beard said, is not to boost survey numbers but to help Baylor and Waco feel like a forever home for incoming professors.
“That’s what makes the difference between a long-serving faculty member and somebody who comes and goes quickly,” Toten Beard — who has been at Baylor since 2002 — said.
Even for those not on the tenure track, like librarians, clinical faculty and lecturers, a long career at Baylor is the goal of the Provost’s Office.
“We want people to come and develop really deep roots that go far, far down into Baylor,” Toten Beard said.
But planting those deep roots does not just come from connection to other faculty and the city of Waco, Ford said.
“The kindness of the students makes for a wonderful classroom atmosphere and makes Baylor a great place to teach.”
