Robert B. Sloan

Robert B. Sloan

Robert Bryan Sloan, Jr. (born 1949) is an American academic and theologian, currently serving as president of Houston Baptist University.

Contents

Education and background

Sloan was born in Coleman, Texas, and grew up in Abilene, Texas. He earned his B.A. from Baylor University in 1970, and his M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1973. After post-graduate research at the University of Bristol, he earned his Th.D. from the University of Basel in 1978.[1][2] After serving as an adjunct at Hardin-Simmons University and on the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Sloan joined the Department of Religion faculty at Baylor University in 1983, and would eventually become the founding dean of the George W. Truett Theological Seminary.[2] He succeeded Herbert H. Reynolds as president of the university in 1995.[1]

Baylor 2012

In 2002, Sloan unveiled a 42-page plan titled "Baylor 2012", outlining his strategy to transform into a national university with Ph.D. programs and research professors, allowing to "to enter the top tier of American universities while reaffirming and deepening its distinctive Christian mission."[3]

Imperatives

“Baylor 2012” included twelve imperatives that were “necessary for Baylor to fulfill the Vision”.

The imperatives were:[4]

  • Imperative I - Establish an environment where learning can flourish.
  • Imperative II - Create a truly residential campus.
  • Imperative III - Develop a world-class faculty.
  • Imperative IV - Attract and support a top-tier student body.
  • Imperative V - Initiate outstanding new academic programs in selected areas.
  • Imperative VI - Guide all Baylor students through academic and student life programming to understand life as a stewardship and work as a vocation.
  • Imperative VII - Provide outstanding academic facilities.
  • Imperative VIII - Construct useful and aesthetically pleasing physical spaces.
  • Imperative IX - Enhance involvement of the entire Baylor family.
  • Imperative X - Build with integrity a winning athletic tradition in all sports.
  • Imperative XI - Emphasize global education.
  • Imperative XII - Achieve a two-billion dollar endowment.

Financing the Vision

At his 1995 inauguration, Sloan spoke of his desire for facilities that "are of the first rank," and attracting "the very finest faculty anywhere on this planet".[5] Recognizing the need for financial expertise, Sloan turned to David R. Brooks in the spring of 2000, as his Vice President for Finance and Administration to oversee “Baylor's budget, business, controller's, and treasurer's offices; the Information Technology Center; purchasing and campus services; Ferrell Special Events Center; Center for Community Research and Development; and the university's Institute for Technology Innovation Management.” [6]

David Brooks had been hired only a few months after his brother Duane Brooks had been seated on the Baylor Board of Regents by the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT). Duane Brooks subsequently resigned from the board in 2003, when the violation of the BGCT nepotism policy was exposed by the Dallas Morning News.[7] In his resignation letter to the BGCT, Duane Brooks stated “David graciously offered to resign his own position in order that I might continue to serve as a regent. However, I strongly believe that David's work is much more important and strategic for Baylor than mine. His leadership is critical to the implementation of vision 2012.”[8] David Brooks dismissed the allegations noting "This group of dissidents is attacking regents individually. Where was the concern three years ago?" [9] Faced with the challenge of growing a $2 Billion Endowment[10] from the existing $645 million base[11]Brooks noted his “hands-on approach, Baylor will be better able to increase its investments, despite the national economic slowdown” and "we look at the endowment as a very long-term endeavor," that is “clearly a challenge in this kind of environment”. [12]

Tuition Increases and Enrollment Impact

To fund the vision, Baylor changed the tuition structure for the fall of 2002 from hourly to a fixed rate and increased tuition and fees for incoming freshmen over 34%, from $12,804 to $17,214,[13] While announcing the increase, Brooks stated "We are one of the last major, private universities to go to a flat-rate tuition, it's still going to be an outstanding value." [14] The tuition increase had an immediate impact on the total number of undergraduate students fell from the 2001 high of 12,190 to a low of 11,580 in 2004. [15] Over the subsequent years, even though more high schoolers were applying and more were being accepted, the percentage of those who accepted declined to enroll at the school. Baylor’s undergraduate enrollment did not get back to the 2001 level until 2010. [16]

Provisional Students

In 2003, critics complained the administration had loosened adademic standards to allow the admintance of more provisional students as a “market-driven way of acquiring lost tuition and fees and dealing with the looming major budget shortfall”. [17] Sloan admitted that the percent had increased from 4.7% to a “the figure may be 12 percent to 13 percent, in part because the board of regents "asked us to bring that number up." [18]

Airplane Purchase

In July 2003, millions of dollars of interest free loans to Baylor were pulled by wealthy benefactor Paul Piper and Kent Reynolds, Christ Is Our Salvation (CIOS) Foundation executive director and son of former Baylor president Herbert H. Reynolds,[19] “in protest of the recent direction and leadership of the university” and “"exorbitant tuition increases over the past two years, the massive debt for new construction, the new emphasis on outward religiosity rather than quiet spirituality, and the new emphasis on faculty publication and research over outstanding teaching were the major factors in the decision not to renew the loan". This action came months after the CIOS Foundation had pulled $2.6 million and took back a $5 million Beechjet aircraft that was leased to Baylor at a rate that was $35,000 below market rates. Brooks called the action “politically motivated to embarrass the university.” [20]

Shortly after the loss of Piper Beechcraft, Baylor administration purchased a $2.3 million jet, reportedly informing regents “after a $100,000 deposit already had been made.”[21]

Baylor management were ultimately forced to sell the jet in March 2004, as the purchase had ”created controversy". "Critics said the university did not need such an expensive airplane and contended Sloan acted outside board guidelines in its purchase. Supporters said it is a good investment and contended appropriate procedures were followed.” [22]

Endowment

The imperative of a $2 Billion endowment was doomed from the start due to the massive “$262 million construction program”[23], the declining enrollment and balancing budgets by tapping $7.5 million in what Brooks described as a "quasi-endowment fund” in 2003[24] and 2004.[25] The endowment fell from the 2000 level of $645 million to a low of $537 million in 2003. After reaching the $1 Billion goal in 2007 and 2008, the endowment had settled in the mid $800 million range. [26]

Salary Controversy

In April 2004, the university was rocked with the revelation than Sloan and Brooks had received salary increases of 29.6% and 22.4% in 2002, while the faculty had been given raises ranging from 2.3 to 10..4%. Kent Gilbreath, an economics professor noted "In universities, as in all areas of society, there is a fundamental question of fairness in the way people are treated, so when chief executives get annual salary increases that are up to 500 percent greater than those of employees in the university or corporation, it is inevitable that it will have a negative effect on the morale of the employees."[27]

Resignations

In May 2004, a week after fulfilling his promise to submit "a budget that is balanced without using the quasi-endowment", David Brooks resigned “to return to private business” [28] Sloan eventually resigned in 2005.[29] The saga is chronicled in the 2007 book The Baylor Project: Taking Christian Higher Education to the Next Level (ISBN 1587310627).

Epilogue

Recently, author S.C. Gwynne writes, “Slowly, quietly, the main precepts of the 2012 plan began to take hold. The number of faculty with degrees from top-flight research institutions rose substantially, as did their rate of publication. The most conspicuous failure of Baylor 2012 was the school's inability to substantially increase its endowment” and the biggest issue remains the high tuition and “most conspicuous failure of Baylor 2012 was the school's inability to substantially increase its endowment.”. [30]

Post-Baylor

Following a brief stint as Baylor's Chancellor, Sloan served as visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews in 2006.[2] He began his tenure as president of Houston Baptist University on September 1, 2006. David R. Brooks joined the Houston Baptist University Board of Trustees in December 2006[31] and currently serves as the board chairman. [32]

Additional information can be found in Dr. Kent Gilbreath's series of essay’s about Baylor 2012.[33]

Ecumenical relations

In November 2009, Sloan signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox to reject practices of abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.[34]

Publications

  • Perspectives on John: methods and interpretation in the Fourth Gospel, with Mikeal C. Parsons (1993), ISBN 0773428593
  • Foundations for Biblical Interpretation: A Complete Library of Tools and Resources, with David S. Dockery and Kenneth A. Mathews (1994), ISBN 0805410392
  • Romans: Good News for a Troubled World, with Harry Lucenay and Bob Campbell (2000), ISBN 0967342449

References

  1. ^ a b "Baylor University - About Baylor - Robert B. Sloan, Jr.". http://www.baylor.edu/about/index.php?id=47613. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  2. ^ a b c "HBU - Dr. Robert B. Sloan Jr.". http://www.hbu.edu/hbu/President.asp?SnID=390377770. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  3. ^ Balmer, Randall (2002-11-18). "2012: A School Odyssey". Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/november18/5.62.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  4. ^ Lyon, Dr. Larry Randall (2011-03-18). "Baylor and Vision 2012: An Introduction to the Annual Assessment of the Twelve Imperatives". Christianity Today. http://www.baylor.edu/ie/index.php?id=80347. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  5. ^ Balmer, Randall (2002-11-18). "2012: A School Odyssey". Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/november18/5.62.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  6. ^ Brumley, Larry (2000-07-21). "David Brooks Named VP for Finance and Administration". Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=3727. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  7. ^ Brumley, Larry (2003-09-18). "Duane Brooks Resigns From Baylor Board Of Regents". Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=5572. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  8. ^ Brooks, Duane (2003-09-19). "Statement from Duane Brooks on resigning from Baylor board". The Baptist Standard. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=846&Itemid=131. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  9. ^ Wingfield, Mark (2002-09-16). "Baylor conflict of interest charges 'baseless' auditor says". The Baptist Standard. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=834&Itemid=131. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  10. ^ "A Vision To Be The Best". Baylor Magazine. 2002-08-01. http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0101/news.php?action=story&story=7336. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  11. ^ "Baylor Trends Fall 1995 Fall 2001". Baylor University Office of Information Management and Testing Services,. March 2002. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/29713.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  12. ^ "A Vision To Be The Best". Baylor Magazine. 2002-08-01. http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0101/news.php?action=story&story=7336. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  13. ^ "A Baylor Trends Fall 1999 – Fall 2005". Baylor Magazine. Spring 2006. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/29713.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  14. ^ "A Vision To Be The Best". Baylor Magazine. 2002-08-01. http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0101/news.php?action=story&story=7336. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  15. ^ "Baylor Trends Fall 1995 Fall 2001". Baylor University Office of Information Management and Testing Services,. March 2002. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/29713.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 
  16. ^ "Baylor Trends Fall 2004 Fall 2010". Baylor University Office of Information Management and Testing Services,. March 2010. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/127596.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  17. ^ "Provisional Student Enrollment at Baylor". Essays of Dr. Kent Gilbreath, Professor of Economics, Baylor University Office of Information Management and Testing Services,. July 2003. http://homepages.baylor.edu/kent_gilbreath/files/2009/12/Finance-Essay-3-Provisional-Student-Enrollment-at-Baylor.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  18. ^ Baylor "Family Dialogue" resembled family feud. July 21, 2003. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  19. ^ [httphttp://www.abpnews.com/content/view/2378/120/ "Hundreds gather in Waco to honor late Baylor president Reynolds"]. The Associated Baptist Press=2011-07-18. May 30, 2007. httphttp://www.abpnews.com/content/view/2378/120/. 
  20. ^ Gaar, Brian (2002-11-18). "Kent Reynolds speaks at Baylor's "family dialogue" earlier this month. $5 million loan yanked from Truett Seminary". Waco Herald Tribune. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WTHB&p_theme=wthb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=Kent%20AND%20Reynolds%20AND%20speaks%20AND%20at%20AND%20Baylor%20AND%20family%20AND%20dialogue%20AND%20earlier%20AND%20this%20AND%20month.&s_dispstring=Kent%20Reynolds%20speaks%20at%20Baylor%27s%20%22family%20dialogue%22%20earlier%20this%20month.%20AND%20date%281/1/1999%20to%201/1/2011%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/1999%20to%201/1/2011%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. Retrieved 2003-07-29. 
  21. ^ Wingfield, Mark (2003-05-22). "Baylor regents investigate board member for interfering in drug investigation". The Baptist Standard. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=249&Itemid=131. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
  22. ^ Knox, Marv (2004-03-05). "Baylor regents urge president to mend fences with faculty". The Baptist Standard. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1611&Itemid=132. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
  23. ^ "Baylor vision sparks change and questions". The Baptist Standard,. July 11, 2003. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=503&Itemid=131. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  24. ^ Baylor "Family Dialogue" resembled family feud. July 21, 2003. http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  25. ^ "Money Matters". Baylor Magazine. May 22, 2004. http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0301/news.php?action=story&story=8050. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  26. ^ "Baylor Trends Fall 2004 Fall 2010". Baylor University Office of Information Management and Testing Services,. March 2010. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/127596.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  27. ^ Gaar, Brian (2004-04-24). "Past raises at Baylor's top irk faculty; Pay hikes preceded current salary freeze". Waco Herald Tribune. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WTHB&p_theme=wthb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=Past%20AND%20raises%20AND%20at%20AND%20Baylor%20AND%20top%20AND%20irk%20AND%20faculty;&s_dispstring=Past%20raises%20at%20Baylor%27s%20top%20irk%20faculty;%20AND%20date%281/1/1999%20to%201/1/2011%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1/1/1999%20to%201/1/2011%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. Retrieved 2010-03-29. 
  28. ^ "Money Matters". Baylor Magazine. May 22, 2004. http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0301/news.php?action=story&story=8050. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  29. ^ Alford, Deann (2005-01-21). "Baylor's Sloan: 'It's Time for Someone New'". Christianity Today. http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2005/januaryweb-only/54.0b.html. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  30. ^ Gwynne, S. C. (December 26, 2010). "From lightning rod to spark plug". Dallas Morning News. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_hidethis=no&p_field_label-0=Author&p_field_label-1=title&p_bool_label-1=AND&p_field_label-2=Section&p_bool_label-2=AND&s_dispstring=From%20lightning%20rod%20to%20spark%20plug%20AND%20date%28all%29&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22From%20lightning%20rod%20to%20spark%20plug%22%29&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. Retrieved 2011-07-18. 
  31. ^ "Trustees News". Houston Baptist University HBU News. December 2006. http://www.hbu.edu/images/hbu/publications/hbunews/NewsV-44_N3_12-06.pdf. Retrieved 2011-03-18. 
  32. ^ "HBU Board of Trustees votes to open positions to non-Baptist Christians". Houston Baptist University News at HBU. March 10, 2011. http://www.hbu.edu/hbu/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=1109. Retrieved 2011-03-18. 
  33. ^ "Dr. Gilbreath’s Essay’s". Baylor University. http://homepages.baylor.edu/kent_gilbreath/essays/. Retrieved 2011-03-18. 
  34. ^ Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
Herbert H. Reynolds		 President of Baylor University
1995-2005		 Succeeded by
William D. Underwood
v · George W. Truett Theological Seminary • Graduate School • Hankamer School of Business • Honors College • Baylor University Law School • Louise Herrington School of Nursing • School of Eductation • School of Engineering and Computer Science • School of Music • School of Social Work
Graves • Burleson • Baines • Crane • Andrews • Burleson • Cooper • Brooks • Neff • White • McCall • Reynolds • Sloan • Underwood • Lilley • Garland • Starr

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