Baylor University Achieves Honor Roll Recognition as a Great College to Work For

Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media & Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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WACO, Texas (Sept. 11, 2023) – For the 12^th time in 13 years, Baylor University has attained elite Honor Roll status as a 2023 Great College to Work For, according to a new survey by The Great Colleges to Work For® program.

The results – released today at GreatCollegesList.com and in a special insert of The Chronicle of Higher Education on Sept. 15 – are based on a survey of 194 colleges and universities. In all, 72 of the 194 institutions achieved “Great College to Work For” recognition for specific best practices and policies. Baylor is among only 42 institutions highlighted most across the recognition categories, earning the program’s highest award – Honor Roll status. Baylor is included in the large university category with 10,000 or more students.

“Baylor is a great place to work because it is where academic excellence is elevated, a Christian commitment is celebrated, research is cultivated and the Baylor Family welcomes each student with open arms,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “We support our faculty and staff through a distinctive professional environment with opportunities to grow and develop through investments in employee success, a caring community, and outstanding benefits.”

Baylor achieved honors in nine categories this year:

• Job Satisfaction and Support: Satisfaction with job fit, autonomy and resources, which are essential to an engaged workforce.
• Compensation and Benefits: Fair compensation and benefits play an important role in employees feeling valued and respected.
• Professional Development: Support for faculty and staff professional development, including onboarding processes, professional development opportunities and support for career development, which are critical to building organizational capacity and supporting individual development needs.
• Mission and Pride: Understanding an institution’s mission and how one’s job impacts that mission drive faculty and staff engagement, level of pride in being associated with the institution and the willingness to recommend the institution as an employer.
• Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness: Managers provide clear direction and constructive feedback, ensuring effective communication and equitable treatment, are among the most important factors influencing whether an employee is truly engaged.
• Confidence in Senior Leadership: Faculty and staff express confidence in the capabilities and credibility of senior leadership, including the president and direct reports.
• Faculty and Staff Well-being: Impact of one’s employment experience on well-being, such as the opportunity to do meaningful work, the support for work/life balance and the experience of a safe working environment.
• Shared Governance: Faculty and staff responses to survey items on collaborative governance processes and decision-making provide clarity on this widely valued and deeply respected higher education tradition.
• Faculty Experience (Only Faculty and Adjunct Faculty Considered): Faculty have a unique role in the life of a university and there are some elements of their specific employment experience – the support for advancement and promotion opportunities and the perceived balance of teaching, service and research, for example – that are uniquely viewed through the faculty lens.

Baylor employs more than 3,000 faculty and staff who are offered a wide range of benefits that complement financial compensation. In addition, faculty and staff have access to professional development opportunities, employee resource groups and an employee assistance program. Also, as a Christian university, Baylor has designed several ways for faculty and staff to further their spiritual growth, including Faculty and Staff Chapel services and recently established Spiritual Wellbeing Leave for eligible employees.

“Baylor University works diligently to be a stellar employer that reflects a Christian mission with a highly competitive benefit program, wellness and wellbeing resources and a caring community for faculty, staff and students, while also striving to improve in all areas of the employment life cycle,” said Cheryl Gochis, vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer. “The Great Colleges to Work For survey is a way for colleges and universities to gain a deeper understanding of how their employees experience and view various aspects of the institution. At Baylor, the information gleaned from the survey is becoming increasingly important for the Human Resources Office to identify areas of employee satisfaction as well as areas for improvement.”

The Great Colleges to Work For® program results are based on a two-part assessment process: an institutional questionnaire that captures employment data and workplace policies 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.

“Participation in the Great Colleges program alone demonstrates a commitment from colleges to opening a dialogue with their faculty and staff,” said Karen Kukulka, CEO at ModernThink. “Pair that commitment with recognition in a key area of engagement, and you’ve got a group of institutions who are putting the best practices of employee engagement to work – they are walking the talk.”

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country. For more information and to view all current and previous recognized institutions, visit the Great Colleges program website at GreatCollegesProgram.com and GreatCollegesList.com. ModernThink, a strategic human capital consulting firm, administered the survey and analyzed the results.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 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 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.