Sharp gives update on merger rumors, visit to campus
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp visited Texas A&M University-Kingsville to attend a meeting with faculty and staff leaders. The meeting was closed to the public but The South Texan was able to secure a brief interview with Chancellor Sharp before the meeting. The questions asked and his responses are below.
Q: What is the purpose of your visit here today?
A: Every 18 months to two years or so I go to the leadership of the faculty and the staff at each one of our 11 universities and go spend an hour or two with them and just get the flavor of any problems that they have, good things that are going on, stuff like that. Just listen to them and talk to them about past, the future and how things are going on campus. This is about the sixth campus I’ve gone to. I was in Corpus this morning. I’ve been to San Antonio. I’ve been to Laredo. This time of year we go to all of them
Q: Is there any merit to the rumors about a merger with A&M Corpus Christi?
A: No, that time has passed. It was a great idea, but I will never bring it up again. The chance of doing that unfortunately is gone.
Q: How does the A&M system view the recent allegations and lawsuits about discrimination at this university?
A: Lawyers are looking at it. I mean we get complaints about things from time to time, and it always goes to legal and legal always tells me don’t comment on it if it’s in a courthouse.
Q: With enrollment being consistently low is the system considering any major cuts to Kingsville?
A: Universities get money by the number of students that they have so the formula and the number of students drives it, so if you have less students, you get less money, that’s just part of what state law is about. It’s not a system decision. The legislature funds universities based on the number of students they have, so if you have less students you’re going to get less money. That’s why it’s important that enrollment increase.
Q: What are some positives you see about A&M-Kingsville?
A: The History. A&M Kingsville is the engineering school of South Texas, of the Rio Grande Valley. One of the positives is all of the great former students and alumni that come out of Kingsville that are scattered all over the place, particularly in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Those folks can be used to recruit people and hopefully they are and things like that. It’s just an absolutely beautiful campus; it always has been. I remember coming here when I was a freshman at A&M. I came to Lynch Hall on a very regular basis, almost every weekend. It was a beautiful campus then and it still is.
Q: Will anything in this meeting determine the renewal of Dr. Hussey’s contract as president?
A: None of our presidents have contracts. I don’t anticipate that. We’ll ask them about any kind of problems that they have and stuff like that. These meetings usually aren’t about the president, it’s about funding, it’s about things that the legislature’s doing, new buildings, things like that that they want to catch up on and I want to get their input on.