To the Dean of the Business School at Baylor: I am a 1986 graduate of Baylor and my daughter is currently a student there. Our friend Keith Jones, a dentist here in Little Rock met us in the parking lot last Sunday at church to tell us about the email Dr. Doyle sent him. He said, “Never in all my years of schooling did I have a professor that would take the time to say, ‘thank you’ for helping a student with something. The conversation went on for 10-12 minutes with him basically being blown away that Dr. Doyle took the time to send him a thank you email for him serving as a mentor to our daughter. I thank Dr. Doyle for teaching life lessons of kindness and manners. We are thankful for him pouring into the lives of his students with examples of how we treat each other in the real world. Mother of one of the students in my class
I stumbled upon your LinkedIn profile when I was trying to help my son get into the right college, and I’ve followed your posts and just find them to be amusing as well as very informative. My son is attending TCU in the fall. With that said, I just wanted to reach out and connect with you Jeff and thank you for giving me insight and a chuckle here and there. I wish there were more people who provided positive enlightenment on LinkedIn as opposed to ‘this is why I am so great at what I do’ ramblings. Vice President for Sales who messaged me on LinkedIn
Thank you for presenting a webinar on budgeting which was so timely and practical. I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback. The entire Executive Team is grateful for your involvement. Colleague for national organization
I doubt that you remember me but in 2017 I applied for a position in one of your departments at Baylor. I did not get invited to an interview, but you wrote me a very kind personal email thanking me for my application and encouraging me to apply for other positions at Baylor. Thank you for your encouragement years ago. Your kind words and willingness to send me a personalize note instead of the standard reply was a deep encouragement to me during my job search. Out of all the schools that I applied to, including schools where I had an on-campus interview, none of them took the time to write a personal note like you did. Thank you. Job applicant
I recently read your article in the (journal). I appreciate your balanced approach to the topic and I strongly applaud your efforts. I appreciate the insights you’ve shared. Vice president of another university
Thank you SO much for sending us your kind email regarding Katharine. Once in college, the feedback loop drops substantially, and it is always great to hear. We certainly are proud of Katharine, and have never had to follow up too much to motivate her. We will definitely follow up with her on her final project! I also appreciate how engaged you are as a professor. If I can ever help in any way (or my company), please let me know. Father of one of the students in my class. I had the students in my class vote mid-semester on their fellow students who they were 1) learning the most from, 2) feeling the most encouraged by, and 3) from whom they wanted to hear more from in class. The father national director for a major company. I asked parents to talk to their students about student’s final project which involved writing out their mission statement, core values for life, and goals in the coming months.
It was a pleasure to meet you and to have the opportunity to speak with you on our plane flight to Waco this past weekend. I really appreciated your willingness to talk to me about Baylor – I can’t believe I learned all that information first-hand rather than an email or website. Baylor prospective student
If you are looking for a role model, I can do no better than to point you to your own father, Jeff Doyle. It is people like your dad, that make us all become better and understand how to engage with life. I have known few men that are as strong in character and deed as your dad. I have seen him face adversity, wrestle with difficulty and times that did not work out well – and still push forward to care first about the people around him and what their needs are. I have seen his compassion for people and intense driving effort to make himself and the people around him better. I have seen his heart, and know how much he loves and cares for his family. Indeed, he has extended this heart to my family as well.
I have seen how his faith is a compass, for him and how he leads others. And through his faith, I have seen him extend grace to the humanness around us. He understands that we all struggle, we all fall short, and we are all broken – and it is in spite of these difficulties that a man of character rises and shoulders the load. It may be hard to think about your dad in this way, but over time you will come to understand it, and he will be patiently there to guide you when you need him. Even in asking others to write this letter, he is pouring into your lives. Father of my sons’ friend whom I asked to join other men in writing letters of wisdom to my sons on their 18th birthday
I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and I LOVE it! I’ve been in HE for over 20 years and to say I am passionate about it is an understatement. I would love, love, love the opportunity to sit down and chat with you if you were willing. I live in Austin and I drive through Waco often. Would you be willing to sit down for coffee or lunch? I’m not selling anything, I would just love to hear more on your perspective and share ideas. Someone who works adjacent to higher education who found my blog
I am so glad we were able to connect. Your wisdom and kindness is simply outstanding, especially for us candidates that may not even see the very best in ourselves. I am grateful for your coaching and will keep you posted. Candidate from another college I was trying to help find the right job
Deep Thoughts on Higher Ed 