Contact: Tonya B. Lewis, 254-710-4656, Tonya_Lewis@baylor.

edu

Follow us

Read more

Statement from the Baylor Board of Regents Chair

WACO, Texas (Jan. 18, 2017) Last fall, the Baylor Board of Regents created a Governance Review Task
Force to assess board operations and to recommend changes. On Monday, the Task Force delivered its
final report to the Boards Governance Committee. The report includes more than 30 detailed
recommendations for changes to the Bylaws and Guidelines for Board Operations.
On Tuesday, the Governance Committee reviewed the report and directed legal counsel to draft a range
of bylaw amendments to accommodate the Task Force recommendations, which are expected to be
considered and voted on at the next Board meeting on February 17. The Task Force report will be
provided to all Regents so that they have ample opportunity to evaluate the recommendations in
advance of our Board meeting. The full report will be published online within the next week.
I have been impressed by the comprehensive work of the Task Force in compiling its report. I am
extremely grateful to these men and women for devoting so much of their time to produce a thorough
and unsparing assessment of our governance policies and procedures. Their work included extensive
reviews of the way similar boards operate at other private universities as well as at for-profit and notfor-profit institutions. They also sought input from expert consultants and experienced board leaders
across a wide range of successful organizations.
Both the Baylor family and the public should know that the process of continual Board assessment and
improvement will always be an integral part of normal operations at Baylor. We will follow wellestablished procedures for changing our bylaws in an expeditious manner. And we look forward to
providing more details about the recommendations and changes in progress.
Ronald D. Murff, Chair, Baylor Board of Regents
Members of Baylors Governance Review Task Force:
Gregory D. Brenneman, Chair
Robert E. Beauchamp, Regent
Douglas Y. Bech, Alumnus
Jerry K. Clements, Regent
Paul L. Foster, Alumnus
Larry P. Heard, Regent
##
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The
University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending
interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty
commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts
of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco,

Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of
degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.