Representatives from East Texas Baptist University traveled to Peru as a part of the Global Study and Serve Program in early July. Cary Hilliard, chair of the ETBU board of trustees; Tom Webster, dean of the School of Performing Arts and Communication; and Angela Webster, children’s minister at First Baptist Church in Longview, led the group. The University Singers performed and ministered at public schools, community centers and medical facilities. The ETBU team partnered with Camino de Vida, a multi-site church that has served in the capital city of Lima 29 years. Students joined in outreach efforts to deliver more than 2,000 bread rolls and 55 gallons of coffee to guards, patients and family members at a hospital. The group also distributed Spanish Bibles and assembled wheelchairs for 40 disabled individuals, gave necklaces with crosses to women at the Casa Gracia shelter, and volunteered at an orphanage for special-needs children and a nursing home.
For the seventh time, Baylor University attained Honor Roll status as a “Great College to Work For,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The results are based on a survey of employees at 253 colleges and universities. Only 84 institutions achieved “2018 Great College to Work For” recognition, with 42 named to the Honor Roll as the standouts in their size categories. Baylor is included in the large university category with 10,000 or more students. Baylor was cited in 11 categories—collaborative governance; compensation and benefits; confidence in senior leadership; facilities, workspaces and security; job satisfaction; professional/career development programs; respect and appreciation; supervisor/department chair relationship; teaching environment; tenure clarity and process; and work/life balance.
Bill Harden, an alumnus of Hardin-Simmons University, has returned to the Abilene school as director of bands. Harden will lead both the HSU Cowboy Band and the Concert Band. Since 1998, he has been band director at Odessa High School. He has been a bassoonist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra since 1988. He earned his undergraduate degree from HSU and his master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.
The Prison Entrepreneurship Program, a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship and education to incarcerated men, received the Community Partner of the Year Award at Dallas Baptist University. In accepting the award, Bryan Kelly, chief executive officer of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, noted 73 DBU faculty and students had ministered in prisons through the program. He also reported 100 percent of inmates who complete the program are employed within 90 days of being released.
The Texas Board of Nursing unanimously approved Howard Payne University’s proposal to offer the pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. HPU is authorized to admit incoming students declared as nursing majors as early as the fall 2018 semester. These students will subsequently undergo a process to gain admission to the university’s School of Nursing during the spring semester of their sophomore year. If admitted to the program, students will start coursework toward their bachelor’s degree in nursing the following semester. In addition to incoming first-year students, transfer students and HPU upperclassmen may enroll as nursing majors with plans to apply to HPU’s School of Nursing during the latter portion of their sophomore year.
Anniversary
150th for First Baptist Church in Dallas. Robert Jeffress is pastor.
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