Boarding at Baylor

Being "on your own" for the first time means great freedom, and even greater responsibility. To keep the experience from being overwhelming, the Baylor support network is vast. Dorm teachers work with students on a nightly basis to help them establish and refine study skills that will help them succeed in the classroom. Advisers work with students to set goals and to make thoughtful and appropriate choices. Dorm heads allow students the opportunities to make decisions, solve problems and to try their hand in leadership roles. Each student, faculty member, administrator, and boarding parent has a Baylor email address, providing easy access to instant connections. Families Assisting Boarding Students (FABS) matches boarding students with local Chattanooga families, offering a second "home away from home." You'll often find FABS families cheering in the stands at sporting events, shopping with students at the mall, and serving up deeply appreciated meals at kitchen tables. And when a student really needs someone to talk to, Baylor's Peer Support Network is ready to help their classmates with problems big and small. This group of upper classmen meet monthly to hone their skills in conflict resolution and just-plain-listening.

Our Residential Life Program helps you reach your full potential. How? Students have daily and purposeful contact with trained faculty and other adults 24/7. The bottom line is this – we believe that Baylor teaches during the day, but the education continues well into the night in our residential community. We take great care to assist our students in developing:

  • Skills that support and teach effective study habits for successful life-long learning.
  • Opportunities and ability to contribute responsibly and ethically to the school, dorms, etc.
  • Skills that allows for feelings of self-worth and effectiveness as students deal with daily responsibilities and challenges.
  • Social skills that allow for positive relationships with peers and adults.
  • A knowledge base and skills that encourage positive, safe, health-protective behaviors.

Boarding Students and Parents

Across campus, Baylor boarding students are recognized for the depth of interest and sense of self-reliance. As a former dorm parent, Megan Hanewald saw the evidence every day in Lowrance Hall. "The girls in my dorm were members of everything. You see it a lot with Baylor boarders - a vested interest in taking care of their home."

Within Baylor's six dorms, the daily buzz of activities can be dizzying, but our boarders take it all in stride. Backed by a team of tireless dorm parents, they're hosting open houses, decorating friends' rooms, planning study sessions, and organizing trips to Nashville and Atlanta. And as one alumnus recalls, "We always had the best time just sitting around the dorm, telling stories and trying to one-up each other. What seemed like a whole lot of nothing meant everything to us."