By Tim Woods

Tribune-Herald staff writer

GRAPEVINE — Baylor University President John Lilley’s future is expected to go under further scrutiny by the university board of regents today, following a closed-door session here that lasted more than five hours Wednesday.

Lilley, whose administration since January 2006 has seen bumpy relations with the Baylor Alumni Association as well as campus faculty, wasn’t present during much of the board’s executive session, held Wednesday at the Gaylord Texan Resort Hotel and Convention Center.

“There were no votes,” board president Howard K. Batson told the Tribune-Herald after 6 p.m., when board members broke for dinner. “We just shared head and heart about the future of Baylor and John’s role in that future, and we expect the meeting will continue tomorrow.”

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Batson declined to characterize the session any further. He did say no decision has been made on a replacement for Randall O’Brien, who leaves his post as Baylor’s provost at month’s end to take over the presidency of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson, Tenn.

During the afternoon, Batson and vice chair Donell Teaff occasionally left the room where regents were meeting and walked to another room where Lilley spent much of the day.

At one point late in the day, some of the university’s vice presidents and legal counsel were summoned to where the regents were meeting.

Regents were scheduled to hold their executive session during their Grapevine retreat on Friday, but at the last minute they moved the closed-door meeting to Wednesday afternoon.

Among other things, regents are to discuss the university’s annual report, including updates on Baylor 2012, a plan to catapult Baylor into the front lines of research-oriented universities nationwide.

When asked Wednesday evening whether Lilley was still president of Baylor after the executive session, Batson said, “Yes.” When asked if he foresaw any action by the board concerning Lilley’s future, Batson said: “I can’t answer that.”

Lilley has won praise from regents in the past for helping Baylor meet many of its Baylor 2012 goals and is involved in efforts to increase the university’s endowment to $2 billion.

Hired by regents in 2005, Lilley, a Baylor alumnus, began his tenure in 2006 by calling for civil and frank discussions about Baylor’s goals but this spring found himself squared off against faculty over tenure guidelines and his administration’s denial of tenure to 12 of 30 Baylor faculty.

After controversy on campus, Lilley and O’Brien approved seven of the 10 Baylor faculty who appealed their tenure denials. Faculty members and the administration subsequently held a summit to discuss the issue, with Lilley vowing to leave the tenure process in the hands of established faculty except in rare instances.

Lilley has also tried to mend fences between Baylor leadership and the independently run Baylor Alumni Association, but with less success. Baylor has long contracted with the association to organize various activities, including homecoming.

However, Baylor’s $213,000 contract with the alumni group was allowed to lapse earlier this year and the Baylor Alumni Association is now entirely self-funded.

Lilley was president of the University of Nevada at Reno when he succeeded Robert B. Sloan Jr. as Baylor’s president, following the yearlong interim presidency of Bill Underwood. Baylor regents said then that they hoped Lilley could bring peace to the campus after huge rifts between Sloan and faculty and alumni during the final years of Sloan’s 10-year presidency.

twoods@wacotrib.com

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