Around the State: HPU students spend five weeks in Spain

Sixteen students in Howard Payne University’s Spanish department participated in a five-week immersive experience in Seville, Spain. Each student completed six credits of Spanish at the Instituto San Fernando, the equivalent of two HPU courses. Students were hosted by families in Seville and were completely immersed in Spain’s language and culture, learning how to conduct daily business and complete everyday tasks in Spanish. Students also participated in major excursions to Córdoba, Cádiz and Granada. They toured cathedrals and synagogues and learned how Christians, Muslims and Jews lived alongside one another during the Middle Ages. Danny Brunette-López, professor of Spanish at HPU and department chair, served as a faculty sponsor for the month-long immersive experience.

Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing hosted its 2nd annual CompassRN Student Nurse Summer Camp on July 10, welcoming 30 students from Dallas-area schools. The camp allowed students to hear from nursing faculty and staff and from current nursing students, as well as tour the School of Nursing and clinical simulation building. They learned about nursing school programs and admission requirements and observed basic nursing skills in the simulation lab. Originally established in Houston, Texas, CompassRN is a nurse-led nonprofit organization connecting youth to health education and nursing. It primarily targets underserved and underrepresented middle school and high school students.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Clinical Simulation Learning Center received provisional accreditation status from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Provisional status is granted until Dec. 31, 2026, allowing time for the university to pursue full accreditation for the simulation center. “It’s an honor to be recognized by an international organization specializing in simulation,” said Jared McClure, UMHB’s director of Clinical Simulation Learning Center operations. “This recognition speaks to what we’ve put in place and accomplished so far and provides great credibility to our program, while still giving us milestones to reach as we move toward full accreditation.” The center’s mission is to engage students in a Christ-centered learning environment where they will develop the knowledge, skills and interprofessional competencies to become leaders in the health sciences.

Following approval by Wayland Baptist University’s internal governance processes and the National Association of Schools of Music, the university now offers online Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in piano studies, sound production and worship studies. Candidates for these degree programs include independent music teachers, worship leaders, sound designers, recording engineers and others who may have significant work experience in music but previously lacked the opportunity to pursue a formal undergraduate degree. “NASM’s affirmation of Wayland’s new online BAS degrees is evidence of our music faculty’s ability to innovate at the highest levels of quality,” said Cindy McClenagan, vice president of academic affairs. “Approval to offer these unique degrees online allows students from around the world to study under our supremely talented and caring instructors.”

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced Katie McCoy, director of women’s ministry for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is among its 2024-25 class of Research Fellows. The ERLC Research Institute is a collaborative space for Southern Baptist researchers and academics to serve the commission and SBC churches on critical theological, ethical and public policy matters related to their areas of expertise. The new class of fellows will assist the ERLC in its mission by producing materials to equip churches to engage ethical and cultural issues in the areas of life and bioethics, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity.

Fellowship Southwest received a $1.25 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to expand its immigration ministries along the U.S.-Mexico border over the next five years. Each year, Fellowship Southwest will recruit border-area churches to develop a well-connected network of migrant ministries from the West Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. Also, Fellowship Southwest will enlist other churches beyond the border region that commit to compassion and justice ministries related to immigration. Churches will receive guidance from an immigration ministry manager as they design their projects, as well as seed grants to support implementation. Fellowship Southwest Executive Director Stephen Reeves expressed appreciation to the Lilly Endowment for its investment in immigration programs. “I believe many churches will find a calling and renewed vision by practicing compassion and pursuing justice for their immigrant neighbors,” Reeves said. “By establishing relationships, learning the stories of migrants, and becoming more proximate to the crisis of human migration, they will embody the value of Christian hospitality and solidarity.”

Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of its “FastBacc” program—a 12-month accelerated track for a post-baccalaureate Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Students who already hold a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing discipline complete 62 hours of nursing coursework at the Dallas campus. The first cohort of 16 students graduated in 2010. Adrianne Duvall-Ingram is the FastBacc program coordinator.

Retirement

Toby Gonzales as pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Floydada, after 10 years at that church and 37 years in the ministry.