Texas Tidbits: Gift will renovate Baylor’s Fifth Street

Retired physician Thomas Rosenbalm of Spring made an approximately $8 million gift to Baylor University in honor of his father and mother, Clarence and Claudia Rosenbalm of Bartlett. The gift will provide for significant renovation to the campus’s historic Fifth Street and will be anchored by the addition of the Rosenbalm Memorial Fountain. The area scheduled for the improvements extends from the Bill Daniel Student Center down Fifth Street to the circular drive in front of the McMullen-Connally Faculty Center. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2015 and scheduled for completion by fall 2015.

Carroll Institute granted ATS associate membership. The Association of Theological Schools at its biennial meeting voted to grant the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute associate membership. That step allows the institute to move forward with pursuit of candidacy and toward accredited status with ATS. The institute already is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education.

Baylor and HSU named great workplaces. The Chronicle of Higher Education named Baylor University and Hardin-Simmons University to its “great college to work for” list for 2014. They were among 92 colleges and universities across the United States receiving the designation. Baylor was singled out for the honor roll, receiving special recognition in 11 of 12 categories. The journal compiles its “great colleges” list based on a two-part assessment process—a survey administered to faculty, administrators and professional support staff, and an institutional audit that captures demographics and workplace policies and practices from each institution. The primary factor in deciding whether an institution receives “great college to work for” recognition is employee feedback.

Baylor regents set tuition. Baylor University regents voted to increase undergraduate tuition for the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters by 5.45 percent. The adopted change in tuition reflects the lowest percentage growth in two decades. With its flat-rate tuition structure, Baylor’s tuition will be $36,360 for the 2015-2016 academic year—$18,180 per fall and spring semesters—while the general student fee will be $1,919 per fall and spring semesters. Tuition for graduate and professional programs will increase similarly. Regents also approved a revised guaranteed tuition option, which gives students and their parents the opportunity to lock in a four-year tuition rate, eliminating uncertainty about the cost of tuition and allowing students and families to prepare their educational budgets more accurately.