Probably just hire Rick Perry.

That's what I am worried about.

Would Loftin work?

And if the OP is making a Star Wars reference with his thread title, when do we get... somehow Sharp has returned?

About damn time. When is the celebration?

I generally agree with his mission to make the university larger, but I think it happened too quickly, and the way it came at the expense of academic rankings and faculty-to-student ratio was unfortunate.

Don't let the door hit ya

Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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hunter2012 said:

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I don't disagree about growing the university to new heights, but the growth should have been about half as fast as they pushed it.

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yeah, definition of success will vary from person to person. I kindof wish A&M was still a relatively small school with legacy admission and you could still back your truck up to northgate.

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Well you can thank the state legislature for it not being like the good old days. They ruined it when they passed the top 10% law for admissions to state universities.

well_endowed_ag said:

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I generally agree with his mission to make the university larger, but I think it happened too quickly, and the way it came at the expense of academic rankings and faculty-to-student ratio was unfortunate.

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He didn't really have control of the speed in which the school population grew. Not much he could do about the top 10% law passed by the state legislature (who conveniently made it only the top 6% at tu, and they still get majority of the PUF fund even though A&M has been burdened with educating A higher student population).

ETA- Don't misunderstand me, he often says and does things that are cringey as hell. But, I do blame the size of our student population on the Texas legislature.

murphyag said:

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Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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hunter2012 said:

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I don't disagree about growing the university to new heights, but the growth should have been about half as fast as they pushed it.

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yeah, definition of success will vary from person to person. I kindof wish A&M was still a relatively small school with legacy admission and you could still back your truck up to northgate.

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Well you can thank the state legislature for it not being like the good old days. They ruined it when they passed the top 10% law for admissions to state universities.

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This.
I'd be curious to see A&M's enrollment increase relative to Texas' population increase since the legislation has been in place.

Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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I think he's been a net positive for A&M. I would wait to see who follows him before celebrating. Most people in our society and in academia in particular are not very capable or competent.

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Agree on this point. Remember who gets to pick his replacement...

murphyag said:

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well_endowed_ag said:

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I generally agree with his mission to make the university larger, but I think it happened too quickly, and the way it came at the expense of academic rankings and faculty-to-student ratio was unfortunate.

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He didn't really have control of the speed in which the school population grew. Not much he could do about the top 10% law passed by the state legislature (who conveniently made it only the top 6% at tu, and they still get majority of the PUF fund even though A&M has been burdened with educating A higher student population).

ETA- Don't misunderstand me, he often says and does things that are cringey as hell. But, I do blame the size of our student population on the Texas legislature.

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I'm sure there are stats that go further back if I look harder

• Only 1/3 of A&M incoming freshmen in 2023 were admitted via top 10%
• Over the last 5 years, total admissions via top 10% were flat - about 6,000 in each class.
• Admissions from freshmen not in top 10% increased from ~11,000 to ~14,000 since 2019
• Since 2019, student counts increased from 69,000 to 77,000. That increase is ENTIRELY from non-top 10% admits. I'd imagine it's similar if you went further back in time.

Bottom line, top 10% is not causing the massive student growth in the CS campus, at least not recently. We're admitting more students that are outside top 10%. That's a problem IMO.
UT gets a cap so no more than 75% of their incoming class is auto-admitted. Our auto-admit rate is ~33%. A&M does not have the same issue that they do. I'm sure A&M would get the same rules UT does if we had the same rate of auto-admits that they do.

https://abpa.tamu.edu/accountability-metrics/student-metrics/applied-admitted-enrolled

10% rule needs to go. Return to competitive admissions with test scores very heavily factoring in. Unfortunately top 30% of many private schools >> top 10% of public schools.

Our long national nightmare is over (almost).

Kill off diploma mill strategy; hire competent AD; and get out of the way.

I dont think there are 70k+ students because of top 10 rule

Maroon Flash said:

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10% rule needs to go. Return to competitive admissions with test scores very heavily factoring in. Unfortunately top 30% of many private schools >> top 10% of public schools.

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Make admission contingent upon giving a crap about being an Aggie and demonstrate the ability to succeed. I dont care if you have high test scores but A&M is just another option youre considering. Legacies should be heavily weighted.

hunter2012 said:

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BREAKING: Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp will retire on June 30, 2025. Story to come.

— Alex Miller (@AlexMill20) July 1, 2024

Might be the best news of the week/month/year.

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"Lord it's a miracle. Man up and vanished, like a fart in the wind"

Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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I think he's been a net positive for A&M.

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This is like saying, "I don't think Hitler liked Jews."

Lord.....TAMU Marketing & Communications (MarComm) was already known as the John Sharp promotional department. The stuff they are going to spew in the next 12 months about how great he is will be pretty sensationalistic.

He didn't have to do much to outshine Graves, McTear and McKinney. Sharp was no Perry Adkisson or Barry Thompson.

deer corn said:

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Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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I think he's been a net positive for A&M.

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This is like saying, "I don't think Hitler liked Jews."

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Uhhhm ....

Wouldn't it be the polar opposite of saying that?

By far the best Chancellor in the history of Texas A&M

Damn wish it was next month………lol

The Zookeeper said:

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deer corn said:

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Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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I think he's been a net positive for A&M.

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This is like saying, "I don't think Hitler liked Jews."

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Uhhhm ....

Wouldn't it be the polar opposite of saying that?

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Yip.