Aggie chancellor is committed to helping A&M-San Antonio grow its degree offerings, including health care.
Texas A& M University System Chancellor John Sharp predicts the fast-growing A&M campus on San Antonio ’s South Side will move up several places in the next decade to become the second-largest of the system’s 11 universities.
“This place is a rocket ship,” Sharp, 73, and in his final years as the system’s longtime chancellor, said during a visit to the campus this week. Texas A&M-San Antonio, with some 7,600 students, is about seventh in enrollment among the 11 universities in the A&M system, which has well over 150,000 students. The flagship university in College Station has about 77,500, followed by 16,230 reported by Tarleton State University in Stephenville in the fall. “I believe that 10 years from now, this will be the second biggest university in the system, with the potential, probably when I’m dead … to be the size of College Station. Because of where it is, and because so many people love San Antonio,” Sharp said. It’s typical to hear a university chancellor cheering on faculty and touting the promise of the future. But Sharp wasn’t the only one during a groundbreaking Thursday talking big about the Jaguar campus’ rise to prominence. Construction projects are clearing land where feral hogs, coyotes and even rattlesnakes still roam on the city’s suburban edge. With about 1,000 acres between its main campus and its Espada property about 3 miles east, A&M-San Antonio will celebrate its 15th anniversary in May. READ MORE: A&M-San Antonio professor gets international award for Holocaust research The groundbreaking was for a $55 million Public Health and Education Building that will combine two areas with high potential for community impact: education and health, including research on diabetes and obesity. On Wednesday, the university will dedicate an on-campus child care program to support students and staff. It’s set to open a second student residence hall by the fall and is planning a third. It’s building a recreation center and will host men’s and women’s basketball games on campus starting in the fall. Salvador Hector Ochoa, eight months into his service as A&M-San Antonio’s third president, said he’ll be a “persistent advocate for South San Antonio,” working with elected leaders and others, including Sharp, who has “great vision for this campus, and he really believes in us.” “In these 15 years, we have established 39 undergraduate programs, 23 graduate programs. We’ve graduated and awarded 18,000 degrees. I know of no other university in 14 years that could hold that record, to my knowledge. So when you invest in us, it’s a great return on your investment,” Ochoa said. With innovations, collaborations and a partnership with the local hospital district, University Health, the campus building spree is putting A&M in a position to churn out health care professionals and help San Antonio address a dearth of medical service options that have long been a concern on the South Side. Debra Feakes, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said students in the East Central Independent School District, through a new technology pathways program focused on health, will be able to earn college credits in high school, complete a bachelor’s degree at no cost through the new Jaguar Promise program, then earn a master’s with credentials to work “right down the street” at a planned hospital or institute of public health. “One pathway from ninth grade to a well-paying job in our community — that is what we do at A&M-San Antonio,” Feakes said. “We create opportunity, we develop pathways and we are catalyzing development on the South Side of San Antonio.” Declaring a “golden age of South San Antonio,” Sharp called the campus “the most dynamic, fast-growing place in the state.” A conservative Democrat who grew up in a small town in Victoria County, he served in both houses of the Legislature and was a railroad commissioner and state comptroller before being thrust into the world of academia in 2011, appointed chancellor by then-Gov. Rick Perry, himself an Aggie, and the A&M board of regents. In an interview, he said the A&M system has set policy for academic tenure that the Legislature has mimicked as a way to retain quality faculty and keep universities strong. “Tenure is not just a lifetime gift,” Sharp said. “You have to keep teaching and you have to do research. And you have to do both of those things very well. The tenure policy that we’ve always had, and now that the state has, says if you don’t do those things, you could lose it.” Regarding the state’s ban on “DEI” — initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in admissions and on campus — Sharp said he doesn’t foresee layoffs, like those that recently affected about 60 employees of the University of Texas at Austin. “We didn’t have too many staff positions dedicated to DEI to begin with,” he said. “We’ve always been a merit-based institution, whether it be with admissions or anything. “I think the Legislature wants us to have a diverse community. But they want it based on merit, and they want us to get off our butts and go out in the communities and find the smartest young men and women that may be minorities in high schools, and convince them that they need to go to college — and they need to go to our college,” Sharp said. READ MORE: TAMU-SA research discourages wearing makeup while exercising Though his contract as chancellor was extended in 2021 to run through 2028, Sharp laughingly said he told the regents, “I’m not sure I’m going to do all of that.” Guiding the San Antonio campus through its expected rigorous build-out is one of his most important goals in whatever time he has left. “This university is a big part of that. We meet pretty regularly with to talk about the expansions and things, and work with the city,” he said. “This university is a really big part of our future.” “When I don’t have any more ideas, it’s time to step aside,” Sharp said. Asked if he had any ideas still pending, he smiled and said, “Yeah, a couple.”
M University System A&M Aggie Tarleton State University Jaguar College Of Arts And Sciences Legislature University Of Texas At Austin East Central Independent School District M Board Of Regents John Sharp Hector Ochoa M Democrat Debra Feakes Rick Perry Espada Hector San Antonio Public Health And Education Building South Side College Station South San Antonio Stephenville Victoria County Holocaust A&Amp University Health Jaguar Promise DEI TAMU-SA
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