Texas Tidbits: New business campus set at Baylor

Baylor regents OK business school construction. Baylor University’s board of regents approved construction of the $99 million Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation that will house the university’s Hankamer School of Business, expanding its size by nearly 40 percent. Baylor plans to break ground on the 275,000-square-foot facility in December and expects to complete construction in July 2015. Regents also granted approval to begin phase two of the $18.1 million on-campus track and field stadium, under construction along the Brazos River on the far east side of the 93-acre Baylor Stadium property. The new facility will accommodate 5,000 spectators and participants. Phase two of the project will add a 10,300-square-foot team building containing hydrotherapy pools, a training room, offices and meeting rooms, storage space and improved landscaping. The track and field stadium is slated for completion in fall 2014.

Wilkes elected Carroll Institute president. Gene Wilkes, former pastor of Legacy Church in Plano, has been elected president of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. Wilkes, hired in June as Gene Wilkesthe theological institute’s vice president for advancement, succeeds Bruce Corley, who served as president since the institute’s opening in 2004. Corley announced plans to step down earlier this year as part of a two-year strategic plan toward a smooth transition. Wilkes has been a long-time supporter of Carroll, serving as a resident fellow and on the board of governors. The Arlington-based institute now reaches 26 states and 12 foreign nations and last year received accreditation by the Association of Biblical Higher Education

Wayland trustees OK sale of Glorieta property. Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees confirmed the sale of the university’s cabin at Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico to Glorieta 2.0, the encampment’s new ownership group. Glorieta 2.0 gave individuals, churches and institutions who owned buildings on leased land at the conference center three options—sell their buildings, donate them to the ownership group or renew a 12-year lease, at the end of which the property would be turned over the group.

HSU cuts student costs through block tuition. Hardin-Simmons University’s board of trustees approved a block tuition program that lowers costs for students, simplifies billing and provides a financial incentive for students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years or less. The block tuition program reduces the hourly tuition rate for full-time undergraduate students by up to $88 per credit hour and cuts graduate student tuition $95 per credit hour. Under the block tuition program, full-time undergraduate students can take up to 34 credit hours per academic year for $22,350. Students who take more than 34 credit hours a year receive a reduced rate of $500 per hour—a $245 per hour savings over the current rate.