In the whirlwind of change occurring in college academics and athletics, Linda Livingstone has her hands full as president of Baylor University and board chair of the NCAA. As the nature of academic research changes at the R1 university, the world of transfer portals and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals have transformed college athletics.
“It takes a community to do jobs like this,” the seven-year president says. “I have a family that understands the responsibilities I have and are supportive of it.”
In the face of the vast machinery of running a large university and college athletics’ governing board, Livingstone puts the success of its students (and student-athletes) first. Last fall, Baylor reached its strongest first-year student retention rate—90.9%—and U.S. News & World Report ranked the Baptist research university in the top 10 for first-year experiences and learning communities.
And as the Hispanic population in Texas rises, so does Baylor’s efforts to boost access. Fall numbers reflected the highest percentage of underrepresented minority students ever in a first-year class at 31.7%.
“It takes a portfolio of efforts to make a big dent in retention and graduation rates,” Livingstone says. “Some of it’s financial, some of it’s academic, some of it is mental health and other support.”
How the world of research is changing
Livingstone and her team will continue to pursue Baylor’s big institutional goals: Improving the institution’s value, affordability and completion rates. The emerging interdisciplinary research trend will impact Baylor and higher ed more deeply in 2025.
“It’s not just at Baylor,” she says. “I think we’re all looking at engaging faculty across disciplines in research that’s solving problems that matter. There’s a responsibility on us as institutions to make sure our policies and procedures facilitate this kind of work when, historically, it hasn’t always been the case.”
Artificial intelligence is driving a broad convergence of fields such as political science, computer science, business and even healthcare. The University of Tennessee’s newly launched College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies propels collaboration outside the traditional campus command structure.
“We’re not talking about just technical development elements,” Livingstone says. “We need people from all sorts of backgrounds working together on developing the technology in healthy and productive ways.”
A new NCAA
The College Football Playoff expanded from a four-team showdown to a 12-school, 11-game tournament this season. While this fires up sports fans, it forces NCAA administrators to discuss how to restructure the organization. Throughout the potential upheaval, Livingstone confirms that she is committed to maintaining academic integrity across higher ed.
