Wayland board elects Bobby Hall president

Wayland Baptist University trustees elected Bobby Hall as the university's president less than two weeks after a search committee announced him as its lone finalist from among seven candidates.

image_pdfimage_print

PLAINVIEW— The Wayland Baptist University board of trustees voted April 28 to name longtime administrator Bobby Hall as the university’s 13th president, effective July 1.

Bobby Hall 200Bobby Hall, president-elect of Wayland Baptist UniversityTrustees elected Hall less than two weeks after the presidential search committee announced him as its lone finalist from among seven candidates.

Hall succeeds Paul Armes, who will retire at the end of June after more than 15 years as Wayland’s president.

Hall will continue to serve as executive vice president and provost through June 30. He has been associated with Wayland more than 30 years, and he has held his current position since 2008.

Hall, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in management from Wayland, will be the first alumnus to serve as the university’s president. Hall earned his doctor of education degree in higher education administration at Texas Tech University in 1994, and he also is a 2015 graduate of The Council for Independent Colleges’ Executive Leadership Academy.

Hall is president of the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, and his wife, Laurie, is director of health services at Wayland. They have a daughter, Alex, and son, Lucas.

In other business, the board of trustees:

  • Approved a $65.9 million budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year that begins July 1. It includes a 9.5 percent tuition increase for undergraduate students at the Plainview campus and a 9.2 percent increase for graduate students. Tuition at Wayland’s 12 external locations will remain unchanged. The fixed tuition rate option, which allows students to lock in a specific rate for four years, will increase 11.4 percent. Tuition for undergraduate online courses will increase 4.9 percent, and the cost of graduate online courses will increase 1 percent.
  • Granted emeritus status to Estelle Owens, who retires at the end of June, after 41 years teaching in the history department. Owens is dean of the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences and university historian.

We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.

Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.

More from Baptist Standard