Highlights from Board of Trustees meeting

The Board of Trustees, chaired by the Rt. Rev. Dena Harrison, at Seminary of the Southwest met in Austin for their winter meeting and for the annual Payne Lecture on February 11, 2016. Following are highlights from that meeting.
The board welcomed their newest trustees, Mr. John Castle from the Diocese of Dallas, Ms. Terri Lawver from the Diocese of New Jersey and Ms. Liza Philpy from the Diocese of West Texas.
At the recommendation of the governance committee, the board approved the appointment of the Rt. Rev. John Smylie from the Diocese of Wyoming and Mr. Clarke Heidrick of Austin to board service beginning in May, 2016.
The faculty and education committee recommended the promotion of Dr. Anthony Baker to full professor of systematic theology; the hiring of Ms. Awa Jangha to assistant professor of counselor education; and the search for director of Hispanic Church Studies during the 2016-17 academic year.
Dr. Baker has been on the faculty at Seminary of the Southwest since 2004. He was recently appointed editor in chief of Anglican Theological Review. He is founder and director of the Central Texas Colloquium on Religion and he is author of Diagonal Advance: Perfection in Christian Theology.
Awa Jangha is currently completing her PhD in Pastoral Counseling–Counselor Education and Supervision at Loyola University in Maryland.  She holds an MA in Creative Arts in Therapy from Drexel University, an MEd in Moderate Special Needs from Boston College, and a BA in Spanish and Art from Fisk University. She is a licensed professional counselor and a licensed art therapist.  Awa has accepted the appointment and will begin July 1, 2016.
The board heard a report from Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye and Professor Jane Patterson on the distinctive and fruitful partnership between the seminary and the Iona Initiative, which provides standardized curriculum for the formation of priests and deacons in their local diocesan setting. At the end of 2015, approximately 130 students from eighteen dioceses are actively participating in the program: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Episcopal Church of Navajoland, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, Northwest Texas, Oklahoma, Olympia, Rio Grande, South Dakota, West Texas, Western Michigan and Wyoming.
Executive Vice President Fred Clement introduced master planning consultants from Perkins+Will, who have been retained by the seminary to develop a long-term campus master plan. A campus master plan helps to inform decisions involving incremental improvements to the campus, allowing for growth in an efficient and attractive manner. “Throughout our campus master planning activities, the seminary’s decision-making and engagement strategy will involve a high degree of collaboration facilitated by Perkins+Will among the board, faculty, administration, students, and other stakeholders,” said EVP Clement. The consultants’ work commences in February 2016.
The board welcomed Dr. Brené Brown to the campus for the annual Payne Lecture. Researcher, story teller, and New York Times best selling author of The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly and recently published Rising Strong, Dr. Brown spoke to a packed house for the invitation only event which honors Claude Payne, retired diocesan bishop of Texas and former chair of the seminary’s board of trustees.