News

$250,000 state grant builds upon mathematics curriculum redesign and supplemental instruction that increase underrepresented students’ academic success

A new Ancestral Legacy Mural in Baylor University’s Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) in the Sid Richardson Building has joined the growing list of inspirational murals located throughout the City of Waco.

It is Financial Literacy Month, and we're going to highlight some of the resources housed within the Paul L. Foster Success Center at Baylor within the office to serve students. Student Financial Literacy helps Baylor students understand personal money management to develop the financial knowledge and skills necessary for both current and future financial wellness through one-on-one coaching, online education and more.

Furry faces and wagging tails often fill Baylor’s campus, but most students do not truly understand the difference between pets, service animals and emotional support animals (ESA). While off-campus students may decide to share their space with a furry friend, the Office of Access and Learning Accommodations (OALA) works with students who live in residence halls to provide appropriate accommodations.

Dena Sadler, a sophomore, tells her story about how Office of Access and and Learning Accommodation (OALA) has helped her experience at Baylor be a better one. Accommodation specialists have done what they can and more to help Dena in her classes. Ever since she has come to the OALA office, her grades have significantly improved.

Coming from the military, we are used to the family -- the brotherhood, the sisterhood -- that comes with the military. Baylor offers all of that here, because we have so many veterans here."

One of the things we appreciate about Baylor is the diversity of backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences of our students, faculty and staff that make up our community. This week, Baylor is celebrating some of the programs that shine a light on the many distinct populations through Know Your Neighbor Week. Students, faculty and staff are invited to learn more about the experiences of our neighbors through a variety of events.

University Advisement director Bob Shipp said that students should plan their schedule ahead of their registration time slot, which can be found on their BearWeb accounts.

The Success Center is hosting and celebrating programs that shine a light on the many unique populations that makeup our wonderful Baylor community. Be ready to get curious about your extended Baylor Family, where they come from, what their experience is like, how you might be a good neighbor, and how they enrich our lives and the Baylor community and how you enrich theirs.

Baylor Academic Advising hosted the Majors Fair on Tuesday in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Leah Smith, University Advisement academic adviser, worked with her department and took the lead to make the Majors Fair come to life.

Technology bombards every aspect of student life, from the phone alarm going off in the morning to the constant stream of digital feedback throughout the day. How can technology work for students and not against them?

Baylor’s Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) is a newly formed center bridging a variety of resources to help students thrive.

Baylor's Avanzando Through College program is a collaborative effort with UnidosUS designed to equip Latino students with skills, information and support systems needed to identify student services, improve academic performance and graduate college. The program is a part of the Student Opportunity and Accessibility Resources (SOAR) department in the Paul L. Foster Success Center.

Baylor University's First in Line program recognizes that life as a first generation college student is a unique experience. Our March 25 panel discussion explored how four Baylor students prepared themselves for the college experience, navigated a worldwide pandemic and found a supportive community on campus to help them become first in their family to earn a college degree.

The Paul L. Foster Success Center’s tutoring center provides students with assistance in passing classes or understanding material they have trouble with.

The push for virtual education due to the pandemic, students at Baylor are able to opt-in to take classes fully online. Student-led organization Baylor Boost was created at the end of the fall semester with a dedication to facilitating connections for these online-only students.

Committed to eliminating the obstacles to academic excellence that its students might encounter, Baylor established The Store, an on-campus food pantry that provides nutritious food, free-of-cost, to students who may be dealing with food insecurity on our campus. The Store, in operation since 2018, has been a successful endeavor helping countless students, thanks to the generous support of the Baylor Family, who have donated to its cause.

After a presentation by the Low-Income Student Success Team to the Faculty Senate on Jan. 12, the Senate began raising donations to provide funding for meal cards, already reaching over double its goal.

Matt Cordon, chair of the Faculty Senate, director of the legal writing center and professor of law, said raising donations for meal cards is only the first step toward addressing the needs of low-income students.

Adley Vahue, a Baylor student veteran, shares about why he chose Baylor and his academic experience. Vahue has been able to find community with other veterans through the Baylor VETS program, Veterans of Baylor and volunteering at the Veteran’s One-Stop in Waco.

The Baylor Free Farmers Market had to get creative in its fourth year to help the between 15% and 25% of students who struggle to afford food every semester.

Baylor works hard to ensure first-gen students feel at home on campus and in Waco. Leading the way is the First in Line program, which acts as a support unit on campus, providing scholarships, directed programming, mentoring and a network of faculty and staff to assist first-generation students. Each of the last two years, Baylor has been honored nationally for its commitment to first-gen students.

The U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges Rankings” each year are among the most discussed rankings in all of higher education, and Baylor routinely is ranked among the best. But there’s another ranking-within-the-ranking for the Baylor Family to be proud of: Once again in 2020, Baylor has been named among the top 50 Best Colleges for Veterans.

Trish Baum from Academic Support Programs, located in the Sid Rich Building and part of the Success Center, gives practical tips on time management.

Despite the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19 for universities throughout the country, Baylor University achieved several enrollment milestones this fall, including enrolling the largest freshman class in the institution’s history, along with record numbers of undergraduate and graduate and professional education students. Baylor's fall-to-fall undergraduate retention also increased to an all-time high, according to official 12th class day statistics from Baylor’s Office of Institutional Research and Testing.

The Baylor University Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, known nationally as the McNair Scholars Program, is wrapping up an impressive 2019-2020 academic year with an inaugural national McNair Research Conference held in September and Baylor’s largest graduating cohort of McNair Scholars.

More than 330 Baylor University faculty and staff, who have volunteered as “Bear Care Coaches,” are reaching out to assigned groups of students each week to help them navigate the stresses of remote online education, being away from their peers and trying to adapt to a college experience disrupted by COVID-19.

Whether it’s due to one’s learning style or schedule, for some people, reading news online just doesn’t work. They prefer an audible format — books on tape, podcasts, etc.
If that sounds like you — and if you’re a dedicated Baylor Bear — then these Baylor podcasts are for you.