Baylor University Earns Honor Roll Designation as a Great College to Work For

University receives elite designation for the 10th time

WACO, Texas (Sept. 13, 2021) - For the 10th time, Baylor University has attained elite Honor Roll status as a 2021 Great College to Work For, according to a new survey by The Great Colleges to Work For program.

The results, released today in a special insert of The Chronicle of Higher Education, are based on a survey of 196 colleges and universities. In all, 70 of the 196 institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. Baylor is among only 42 institutions named to the Honor Roll as the standouts in their size categories. Baylor is included in the large university category with 10,000 or more students.

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace recognition programs in the country. Now in its 14th year, the program recognizes the colleges that get top ratings from their employees regarding workplace practices and policies.

Baylor was cited on the Honor Roll in six categories this year:

• Job Satisfaction & Support: Satisfaction with job fit, autonomy and resources, which are essential to an engaged workforce.
• Compensation & Benefits: Fair compensation and benefits play an important role in employees feeling valued and respected.
• Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness: Managers provide clear direction and constructive feedback, ensuring effective communication and equitable treatment.
• Confidence in Senior Leadership: Faculty and staff expressed confidence in the capabilities and credibility of senior leadership, including the president and direct reports.
• Mission & Pride: Understanding an institution’s mission and how one’s job impacts that mission drive faculty/staff engagement, level of pride in being associated with the institution and the willingness to recommend the institution as an employer.
• Faculty & Staff Well-being: Impact of one’s employment experience on their well-being, such as the opportunity to do meaningful work, the support for work/life balance and the experience of a safe working environment.

“Baylor University’s mission challenges us with a call to excellence, and even in the midst of the challenges and uncertainty during the pandemic, the Baylor Family of faculty and staff never wavered in committing their time and talents to create a caring community dedicated to leadership, service, academic excellence and Christian commitment,” said President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “Beyond the privilege of educating men and women to be leaders and servants throughout the world, employees enjoy an active community, stability, investments in employee success and outstanding benefits, all of which make Baylor a Great College to Work For. I extend my appreciation to Cheryl Gochis, vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer, her team and colleagues across the University in creating an environment in which all employees are supported and have an opportunity to thrive.”

The survey results are based on a two-part assessment process: an institution questionnaire that captured employment data and workplace policies from each institution, and a survey administered to faculty, administrators and professional support staff. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution received recognition was the employee feedback.

“The leaders at this year’s recognized institutions guided their institutions through unprecedented challenges with vision and transparency, all while modeling a spirit of partnership and genuine care for their fellow colleagues,” said Richard K. Boyer, principal and managing partner at ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm that administered the survey and analyzed the results. “It takes courage to lead. And the 2021 Great Colleges to Work For participants demonstrated remarkable courage, commitment and optimism in their decisions to participate in a ‘great place to work program’ in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. There’s much to learn from these remarkable institutions and their inspirational leaders.”

Baylor employs more than 3,000 faculty and staff, who are offered a wide range of benefits that complement pay, including medical insurance and other core insurance benefits, retirement plan, tuition remission, flexible spending accounts and paid time off for staff.

In 2018, Baylor extended the University’s generous leave program to include paid bereavement leave and paid military/emergency responder leave, along with paid parental leave and an adoption assistance program implemented in 2017 to reflect the University’s continued commitment to the cultivation of a caring community.

In January 2020, Baylor implemented revised leave policies to better support the needs of eligible employees and to help attract and retain the best talent. The changes include providing more immediate access to paid leave time, increasing paid parental leave from four weeks to six weeks and adding up to four weeks of paid caregiver leave to be used for serious health conditions, maternity/prenatal and military-related demands.

Additional benefits include free admission to certain athletic events and discounts to football games, free use of Baylor’s Student Life Center and access to other wellness programs, an employee assistance program (EAP), dining discounts and other benefits that add value to the total compensation and well-being of faculty and staff, their families and retirees. Baylor also recognizes 10 University holidays, including the addition of the Juneteenth holiday beginning in 2022.

For more information and to view all the results of the survey, visit the Great College Program website at www.greatcollegesprogram.com.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT MODERNTHINK LLC

As a research and consulting leader in workplace issues, ModernThink has supported a wide variety of “Best Place to Work” initiatives. Through these programs, the firm has gained substantial survey and industry expertise, including specific insight into higher education. ModernThink knows what it takes to build a great place to work and shares that know-how with its clients. The ModernThink team of organizational development experts is dedicated to helping colleges follow through and capitalize on feedback from employees and benchmark data from peers to drive meaningful change at their institutions.  Learn more about the Great Colleges to Work For® program, including all current and previous recognized institutions, at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com, and about ModernThink at www.modernthink.com.