As a kid growing up under the wide-open skies of Wakita, Oklahoma, Mark Lacy enjoyed watching the stars at night. That fascination carried with him into college. On the first day of a physical science course, the professor announced, “We will not be discussing astronomy in this class.” With a twinkle in his eye, Mark [...]
Last year Freshman Leadership Organizations (FLOs) were excited to set a new record. Despite the need to figure out how to connect freshmen who felt disconnected in a largely virtual world, the number of applications submitted was up 4.6% over the previous year. Little did they know that record would be obliterated this year with [...]
When cadets first arrived on campus in October 1876, the intake process was simple. They registered as students on their first class day. All students were required to participate in the Corps of Cadets. The day the doors first opened at the A&M College of Texas, only six students registered, so the start of classes [...]
You wish you could go home at five o’clock each day, but students expect to have access to your services 24/7. Increasingly, student services have been moved online so our computers can support the services while you take a break. We host more than 70 customer-facing custom and vendor-supported applications on our servers. Staff and [...]
Try to “crack the code” on this problem: You have one month to find a way to safely welcome 27,000 people to campus, but no vendor has a solution that can be delivered in time. That was the problem confronting New Student & Family Programs (NSFP), an office in the Offices of the Dean of [...]
This spring the Texas A&M Maritime Academy (TAMMA) launched a new tool to get cadet information in shipshape order. TAMMA at Texas A&M’s Galveston campus is one of only six maritime academies in the United States, producing officers for the Merchant Marines and seagoing military services. Some of the tools to manage this elite program [...]
They have been the 12th Man, but now they are leaving. Others are already stepping up to stand ready in their place. This month we celebrate our eight student employees who are graduating. We wish we could keep them all, but alas! In a few months, Texas A&M will celebrate the 100th anniversary of [...]
In a crowd of 50,000 students, there’s always someone experiencing an unexpected turn of events. Car accidents, apartment fires, sexual assaults, hospitalizations, and other types of unplanned events can severely disrupt a student’s ability to focus and perform well academically. While some of these incidents may make the evening news, more often the disruptive problems [...]
Aggie students do great real-world research. Student Research Week (SRW) showcases some of this outstanding work with competition and special speakers. In its 15th year, this annual endeavor is a collaborative effort between academic and Student Affairs offices. But managing 1185 competitors, judges and event volunteers also requires having IT as a strategic partner. This [...]
How do you assign more than 7,750 students into less than 7,450 residential spaces? That question gets much more complicated when you have to consider each student’s application date, gender, age, eligibility for participation in residential living learning communities, and preferences for roommate and room price. That’s the kind of challenge Residence Life has been [...]