A Community Of Cultivating Excellence: Undergraduate .

A Community ofExcellence:CultivatingUndergraduate Leadersand Scholars4STEMMentoringForging Pathsto Ph.D.s86Mapping UndergradExcellence onCampus

MissionTo support and inspire aflourishing community of learning.Table of contentsOn the Cover: Baylor students in the Garden of Contentment at Armstrong Browning Library. Source: Baylor Photography.Advisory CouncilBill Bellinger, Professor and Chair,ReligionEllen Filgo, Assistant Director forResearch and Engagement,University LibrariesChris Hansen, Professor and Chair,Film and Digital MediaHelen Harris, Associate Professor,Social WorkGary Mortenson, Professor and Dean,School of MusicCoretta Pittman, Associate Professor,EnglishStephen Reid, Professor,Truett SeminaryLaine Scales, Professor, Social Work;Master TeacherAnne-Marie Schultz, Professor,Philosophy; Director, BaylorInterdisciplinary CoreCharles Weaver, Professor and Chair,Psychology and NeuroscienceRachel Woods, Assistant ClinicalProfessor, ManagementDavide Zori, Assistant Professor,Baylor Interdisciplinary CoreStaff3Baylor’s Commitment to Excellence inTeaching Integral to Tier 14STEM Mentoring with Trey Cade andthe Baylor Institute for Air Science5Project-based Mentoring with ByronNewberry and Baylor Baja6Visualizing a Future: Baylor’s McNairScholars Program7Undergraduate Research AcrossCampus with Tammy Adair and URSA8Campus Map: Where UndergraduateExcellence is Happening10Five Leadership Opportunities forUndergraduates12Model United Nations: A Model ofStudent Engagement and Opportunity14Baylor Teaching Awards15From the Director16Spring 2020 SET CalendarDirector –Lenore WrightAssistant Director –Christopher RichmannPostdoctoral Teaching Fellow inSTEM Education Lyndsay DiPietroManager of Operations –Craig Clarkson2019-20 Graduate Fellows –Alex FoglemanXing MengAubrey MorrisTori NeisesHannah NormanFelicia OsburnChristopher RuizStephanie Wong2Baylor University

Baylor’s Commitment to Excellencein Teaching Integral to Tier 1Provost Nancy BrickhouseBaylor’s selection earlier this fallby U.S. News & World Report asthe 20th ranked university in thecountry for “Best UndergraduateTeaching” came as no surpriseto those of us who have knownBaylor for decades. Commitmentto high-quality undergraduateeducation stretches back 175years to Baylor’s foundingin Independence. Creativeapproaches to teaching,the deep integration ofresearch and teaching,and life-changingmentorship are aspectsof undergraduateeducation thatBaylor studentshave experiencedfor generations.I experiencedBaylor’s powerfulundergraduateteaching first-handas an undergraduatechemistry major. Theprofessors who investedin my life shaped mein profound ways and set me on atrajectory that eventually led meback to Baylor in May 2019.Baylor’s commitment to highquality teaching continues innumerous ways today, but twostand out as prominent. The firstis through Illuminate, Baylor’sbold and inspiring strategic plan.At the same time that we aspireto achieve R1/Tier 1 recognition,Pillar #2 of Illuminate challengesus to extend and reinvigorateBaylor’s historic commitmentto undergraduate teaching.Illuminate expects us to do so byproviding a transformationaleducation through whichstudents “develop their leadershippotential, explore their faith andbeliefs, increase their desire forwisdom, and prepare for servicein a diverse and interconnectedglobal society.” Pillar #2 furthercalls upon us to be a universitythat provides “transformativeundergraduate experiencesthat combine unwaveringChristian commitment, informedengagement, and academicexcellence in a way that isunparalleled within highereducation.” Those are indeed highaspirations for us to achieve, but,with 175 years of history behindus, a new generation of facultywill no doubt rise to the occasion.We will achieve these expectationsfound in pillar #2 of Illuminate justas we will achieve the goals foundin the other three pillars that areguiding us.Academy for Teaching and LearningA second way in which Baylorextends its commitment to highquality undergraduate teaching isthrough the work of the Academyfor Teaching and Learning (ATL).Founded in 2008, the ATL’s twofold purpose is to: 1) support andinspire a flourishing communityof learning, and 2) promotethe integration of teaching,scholarship, collegiality, andservice in a Christianenvironment. Whetherit be through theSummer FacultyInstitute, the BaylorFellows program,the Provost’s FacultyForum, or any ofthe other myriadopportunities offeredby the ATL, theAcademy offers aconstant source ofcreativity, ingenuity,and excitement aroundthe most-pressingpedagogical questionsof our day. I encourageall faculty to explore the ATL’swebsite to learn more abouthow you might benefit fromeverything that the Academy hasto offer.I am grateful to our faculty, theleadership of the Academy forTeaching and Learning, andto everyone else—past andpresent—who invests so muchtime and energy to ensuring thattransformational undergraduateeducation will always be the veryheart of Baylor University.3

STEM MentoringTrey Cade, Assistant Research Professor and Director of the Baylor Institute for Air Science;Danny Amado, senior Aviation Science majorThis conversation has been edited forclarity and brevity.ATL: How did you get involvedworking together?Danny: Dr. Cade teaches a spaceweather class, and as part of mycourse requirement I had to takeit. But just taking the class I sawhow fascinating [the material]was. One of his previous labassistants, Courtney Turner, wasalso a role model to me. Seeinghow much fun she was having andhow excited she was about [theresearch] got me excited. Whenshe was going to graduate a spotopened up [in Dr. Cade’s lab] and Iapplied for it.ATL: Danny, have you learnedthings here that have changedwhat you see yourself doing afterBaylor?ATL: What do you each feelyou have gained from workingtogether?Danny: Mine would be therelationship established with Dr.Cade. He was the first person Imet when I got to Baylor and Ithought I wanted to be a pilot,and he was there when I waspanicking because I couldn’t bea pilot. He also wrote me a letterof recommendation that waspretty much the reason I got ascholarship and have continued toget that scholarship, so I am reallythankful for that. Just to know thathe cares about his students and hecares about me, just having that.Dr. Cade: From a few perspectives:one is the practical perspectiveof the data collection that thestudents do are things that Ipersonally find hard to find thetime to do myself. If the studentsweren’t doing this type of work, itprobably wouldn’t get done, andI probably wouldn’t have researchto present. On a more personallevel, the opportunity to work withDanny: With my major it is morepractice orientated. I had alwayswanted to do more scientificthings, and so this was a goodopportunity for me to be ableto get out and do that and havesome more experience outside ofwhat I thought I wanted to do. Ithas really opened my eyes to thedifferent things that I am capableof doing and different interests Ihave.4Baylor Universitystudents outside the classroom inmore hands-on applications andthe ability to develop relationshipswith students, and to hopefullybe able to contribute in someway to the development of thatstudent. Selfishly for me, I loveworking with students, I meanthat’s why I am here. Dannymentioned Courtney Turner. Iwant to mention her because shegot to do something unique. Wepresented the research at an AGU(American Geophysical Union)conference, and she presentedthe poster herself. This is thelargest Earth and Space Scienceconference in the world. Not alot of undergraduates get to dosomething like that.ATL: Danny, for otherundergraduates, would youpromote them getting involved inresearch regardless of what yearthey are in their program?Danny: Yes, I think it would bebeneficial especially becauseit helps you establish thatrelationship with the professor but

also builds confidence in yourselfand your ability to do certainthings you didn’t think you coulddo.ATL: How do you feel Baylorcompares with other universitiesin regards to undergraduateresearch?Dr. Cade: This is the only[university] I have seen this focusplaced on undergraduate researchexperiences. In most places it isexclusively the world of graduatestudents. I think this is somethingthat is important, unique, andexciting for Baylor to do, as I feelthose experiences are extremelyimportant.Project-based MentoringDr. Byron Newberry is the facultyadvisor for Baylor Baja, anengineering team that designs,builds, markets, and races anall-terrain vehicle in an annualinternational competitionsponsored by the Society ofAutomotive Engineers. Thisconversation has been edited forclarity and brevity.ATL: What do you think studentsgain from team competitions likeBaja?Dr. Newberry: There are severalanswers to that question. Oneis simply motivation. They couldhave a class on how to design acar and learn a lot in that class,but nothing quite motivateslearning more than having to goand compete. Another thing isthat learning things hands-on isa tremendous way to reinforcethe ideas you’ve learned. A thirdthing, which we try to emphasizethroughout our curriculum inengineering, is the teamworkaspect. The project is biggerthan any one person can takeon, so you have to rely on otherpeople to get things done andcoordinate with them. It’s reallya powerful teamwork exercise,which is a great skill for them tocarry forward.ATL: Do you feel that workingwith Baja has affected yourexperience of Baylor?Dr. Newberry: I’ve been advisorfor extracurricular projectswith students throughout mywhole career, so even thoughthis is a new group for me, it’scertainly consistent with thekinds of things I like to do. Forone, I like projects. I also likegetting to know the studentsbetter. It’s allowed me to workwith students and get to knowstudents in ways that I hadn’tpreviously. Back in May, I tooka group of 8 or 9 students tothe competition in southernCalifornia. We had to tow ourtrailer out there and back, so itwound up being a 10-day trip.You really get to develop somegreat relationships when you’retogether for such an extendedperiod of time. I value developingrelationships with students, andthis is a great way to be able todo that.ATL: How do you see your roleas faculty advisor?Dr. Newberry: I see my maingoal as simply making sure thatthey’re aware of deadlines andmilestones. I make sure theyknow what’s coming and havea plan for achieving it. Whatthose plans are is up to them. Ifthey have a misunderstandingabout something, or if they comeask me what I think, I’ll provideadvice, but I don’t want to bedriving the car, so to speak, interms of dictating what they’redoing. As an addendum to that,one important aspect is makingsure that there are always someAcademy for Teaching and Learningupper-level students who havebeen active in the organizationfor a while and know what needsto be done. For instance, we hadseveral freshmen join up at thebeginning of this fall semester.The upperclassmen have beentaking the freshmen over to theworkshop and teaching themhow to weld. When there’ssomething that really needs toget done, somebody’s got to stepup and do it or get it organized,so your leaders emerge from thatnaturally.ATL: What would you say are themost important takeaways fromyour work with Baja?Dr. Newberry: One is simplythat doing projects, particularlycompetitive projects, is highlymotivating. And the othertakeaway is having highexpectations for the students.Most teachers like to be incontrol, but when you relinquishthat control, you’re puttingdecision-making power ontothe students. Having highexpectations of students—relinquishing the control, puttingthe decision-making power onthem, and then conveying tothem either verbally or nonverbally that they can do this—isa powerful motivating factor forthe students and actually helpsthem succeed.5