Around the State: Wayland receives $2.99 million grant

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Wayland Baptist University a $2.99 million grant  over the next five years to ensure the academic success of Hispanic and low-income, first-generation students. The Title V grant will fund “Pioneering Greater Access for Hispanic Students through Enhanced Student Support,” Wayland’s coordinated effort to improve support for Hispanic students and expand information systems to improve student success. The effort also is designed to increase fall-to-fall retention and improve four-year graduation rates. The grant is part of the Department of Education’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, and it enables Wayland to expand and enhance academic offerings, program quality and institutional stability. “I am pleased that we have been able to secure this grant with our first proposal, because the DHSI program helps Wayland to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the attainment of, Hispanic students. That’s something Wayland has been doing but is keenly interested in expanding,” President Bobby Hall said. The grant provides funding for six new or additional student support positions, including a Title V project director, student success and disability service coordinator, bilingual academic coach, and specialists in enrollment/LaFamilia Outreach, financial aid, and retention data. Computers and technology for project staff also are included, as well as project software. Summer Bridge Program Activities, events and instructional supplies also are included.

The East Texas Baptist University Tiger baseball team concluded a six-week series of free baseball skills camps for Marshall-area children. ETBU student-athletes spent each Thursday evening teaching an average of 60 children per week the fundamentals of baseball and sharing their faith through personal relationship development, gospel testimonies and prayer. More than 120 local children participated in the baseball camps over the span of six weeks. In addition, campers each received their own Bible donated by Robert Bardin of the East Texas Chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “We are called to make disciples, and I believe we can use baseball to do that. It is important to serve the community as a team, because it keeps our guys grounded in this community and invested in the youth of Marshall,” ETBU Head Baseball Coach Jared Hood said. “It makes the purpose for our being here greater than baseball, takes the focus off the scoreboard, and on to a greater mission and goal.”

Baylor University was recognized on the Dave Thomas Foundation’s 2022 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list, which recognizes the top 100 national organizations with the most robust adoption benefit programs. Among the breakout categories, Baylor ranked No. 2 nationally among U.S. education institutions, behind only Yale and ahead of New York University, Emory University and Northwestern College, that offer the best overall adoption benefits, including paid parental leave and financial assistance for adoption-related expenses. Baylor also is featured on the foster care benefits list for offering paid parental leave to foster parents. In 2017, Baylor implemented expansive new policies that provide paid parental leave for staff and an adoption assistance program that helps defray expenses associated with the adoption process and affirms the choice by staff and faculty to grow their families through adoption. Baylor’s parental leave policy provides up to six weeks of paid leave for full-time staff who become parents through birth, adoption or foster care. The policy, which is available to staff immediately upon employment, gives parents time and flexibility to bond with their new child/children. The adoption assistance program reimburses full-time Baylor faculty and staff up to $10,000 of qualifying adoption-related expenses per adoption, up to two children per calendar year. Faculty and staff are eligible to participate in the program following one year of full-time employment with the University. “Baylor’s parental leave and adoption assistance benefits, including for foster care, align with the University’s Christian mission and reflect our deep commitment to supporting and strengthening families,” said President Linda A. Livingstone. “We have made it a priority to provide a supportive work environment that enriches the lives of our staff and faculty and fosters the work-life balance vital to families’ capacity to flourish.”

Several East Texas Baptist University nursing students were presented the Polly Cargill Nursing Scholarship on behalf of the Jerry Cargill and Jack Cargill family and East Texas Baptist University. ETBU’s Cameron Anderson, Reagan Creed, Trinity Griffith, Ta’Lena Johnson, Hailey Maloy, Megan McCarthy, Bailey Munch, Meagan Parker, Brittan Price, Laura Staley, Emma Stelzer and Jaidakiss Younger received the scholarship during a reception held at the Marshall Grand. The ETBU nursing students were 12 of 17 local students receiving scholarships who seek to impact the medical industry through a future career in nursing.