In Fall 2010, the Baylor University Graduate School launched a new program—the Baptist College and University (BCU) Scholars. It was designed to strengthen ties among Baptist universities aligned with the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities (IABCU) member schools by identifying IABCU-educated students enrolled in PhD programs at Baylor. These BCU scholars would prepare for future faculty life in IABCU schools, thereby helping increase the number of Baptist-educated doctoral students remaining in Baptist universities as well as connecting Baptist universities through the ties of our shared students.
The goals of the BCU program are to increase the number of Baptist-educated doctoral students staying in Baptist universities, connect Baptist universities by partnering in graduate education, regain bright doctoral students in Baptist universities as both students and faculty, and—perhaps most importantly for IABCU schools—“stem the dying light of Baptist higher education by providing a continued education for bright students in a Baptist university committed to its religious identity.” BCU scholars must be current Baylor doctoral students (or MFA students) who attended an IABCU school as an undergraduate or for a previous graduate degree. Once admitted to the BCU program, scholars receive opportunities to meet with Baylor administrators, attend the annual IABCU meeting, participate in workshops on the integration of faith and learning, apply for the Schmeltekopf Fellowship in Educational Leadership, and participate in a discussion and reading group with other BCU scholars and Baptist administrators.
Over ten years after its founding, the BCU Scholars program continues to flourish. Current BCU scholar Taylor Poe, for example, plans to graduate with her PhD in Mathematics in August 2021. She credits the BCU program with launching her job search. Two years after joining the BCU Scholars program in 2018, she began receiving interviews with IABCU schools and—just this week–accepted an Assistant Professor offer from Mississippi College, her IABCU undergraduate alma mater.
Altogether the BCU program boasts twenty-eight scholars (including both alumni and active scholars). The scholars represent a wide range of degree programs—from Social Science fields like Education and Sociology, to Humanities fields like English, Philosophy, and Religion, to STEM fields like Mathematics and Chemistry. Through the program events, these students have received grounding in the Baptist tradition, gained insight into the inner workings of university administration, and participated in discussions about Baptist and Christian higher education.
Several have attended the annual IABCU meetings and participated in interviews with IABCU partner schools. Some even accepted their first job offers from IABCU schools. Josh Pittman (undergraduate degree from Campbell University and a PhD in English from Baylor), Jared Brandt (undergraduate degree from Southwest Baptist University and a PhD in Philosophy from Baylor), and Kim Bodenhamer (undergraduate degree from Hardin-Simmons University and a PhD in Religion from Baylor) accepted initial job offers from IABCU schools—Bluefield College, Dallas Baptist University, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor respectively.
“I think being a BCU scholar—and especially attending the IABCU meeting—helped give me confidence in the distinctive ways that I can serve within Baptist higher educational contexts,” said BCU alumni Rebecca Poe Hays. “I was able to gain more familiarity with larger Baptist networks, celebrate their diversity, and identify the various areas of Baptist life into which I hope I as a female minister and professor can speak. Going into interviews with a committee and a faculty with this sense of purpose—this sense of calling—was tremendously powerful.” Dr. Poe Hays graduated with her undergraduate degree from Union University, her MDiv from Samford University, and completed her PhD in Religion from Baylor. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Christian Scriptures at Truett Theological Seminary.
Thus, over ten years after the birth of the program, BCU scholars has accomplished what it intended—preparing Baptist PhD students for life in Baptist higher education. Each Spring the Graduate School reaches out to PhD students with previous degrees from IABCU schools and invites them to consider joining the program. We look forward to what the next ten years will bring!