Texas A&M’s president is asked about multiple subjects when he spoke at December’s faculty senate meeting.
Mark Welsh said “difficult conversations” are ahead regarding budget and capacity problems in an effort to manage 80,000 students in a way “that feels comfortable”. Welsh says they “have to get right”, the university’s facilities and infrastructure, before adding more undergraduate students. Welsh says academic deans who want to start a new undergraduate program will have to decide where to downsize. And he added that faculty members have to be a part of that conversation. Program cuts do not apply to adding the number of graduate and online students.
Welsh announced that an outside consultant starts work in January to review A&M’s more than 270 facilities. That was in response to a faculty member’s complaints that the university is not addressing building repairs and basic necessities of students and employees.
Welsh also said he would be sending faculty members, a list of projects that will be done in the next five years on the flagship campus that are funded by the system. That was in response to a faculty member who asked why the system is spending millions on the RELLIS campus, which is controlled by the system.
Another faculty member who questioned why “the administration had not stepped forward to reassure us of their commitment to LGBTQ students and their education, or to LGBTQ faculty and their teaching and research on controversial subjects.” Welsh said “I’ve probably said this 50 times publicly. All of them should be treated with respect. All of them should be included. All of them should have a voice, and should feel comfortable using it. All of them should feel like an incredibly valuable and critically important pieces of what we’re trying to accomplish here.” This subject came up after a faculty member reported a student was chased by other students who were yelling LGBTQ students. Welsh says university police will reach out to the faculty member who sent him an e-mail about the incident to get more information.
Welsh was also asked about the university’s response to executive orders from the governor against the Republic of China and the Chinese Communist party. Welsh says lawyers at the A&M system want members to send them questions on how the orders could affect students and employees. He also said any decision whether to push back on the executive orders would come from the system chancellor.
Click below to hear comments from Mark Welsh during the December 9, 2024 Texas A&M faculty senate meeting.