Aggy

[Chop]

IMHO, where we are now, both UT and A&M would be wise to shrink enrollment to around 40k each (undergrad + grad), and elevate the caliber of the student body. This would require the Leg. to ditch (or greatly modify) the HS class rank percentage auto-admit rule. The satellite campuses UTA, UTEP, UTSA, UT Permian Basin, etc. should bump up numbers significantly to 40-50k each, giving all bright students the opportunity to attend a good college while paying state tuition. Tech, UH, UNT, etc. should also expand. We would then have various big schools to ensure a high quality education at state tuition rates, and an academically elite UT (and semi-elite A&M) for the brightest.

This counters the old (and ongoing) Frank Erwin vision for the University, but I think it would be best for our state and best for UT.

 

[blonthang]

Chop,

Great points. I mean, really, if your undergraduate plan is to get a BA in history, english, political science, biology, etc., is there really that much difference between UT and UTSA for example?

If you're dead set on accounting, german, petroleum engineering, civil engineering (and a few others) which UT-Austin is regularly ranked in the top 5 nationally of ALL universities, then Austin is the place to go.

Is a prospective employer, say, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services going to NOT hire you with a management or biology degree from UTSA compared to someone from UT-Austin --- especially since your grades might even be a little higher from UTSA, not just because of academic rigor, but you may feel more comfortable going to a school in your hometown?

I grew up 45 miles from Austin, closest university of size was UT-Austin, so made sense to me to go there. If there had been a university in my hometown of 2,500 population with the No. 2 nationally ranked department of my interest I may have stayed close to home.

That, and if they would have had a good football team. lol

 

[WorsterMan]

and if they would have had a good football team.

There's the bottom line y'all !!

 

[Phil Elliott]

Where you get your degree from is usually only relevant for your first job. After that, its just do you have a degree yes or no.

 

[mb227]

Where you get your degree from is usually only relevant for your first job. After that, its just do you have a degree yes or no.

And even the first job does not depend much anymore on pedigree...employers are often thrilled that someone actually got a degree in a real subject.

 

[SabreHorn]

Not just “NO”, but abso-*******-lately NOT! Undergrad matters.

In the business school, engineering school, architectural school, law school, where you graduate, determines your first job and who trains you, both of which make you more desirable and employable throughout you entire career.

Certain fields of study like education and nursing are less exclusive as the employers want you educated from wherever and experienced.

Grad schools also look primarily at your undergrad school as a qualification for admission.

 

[SabreHorn]

Dawg,

The Aggies were losing $20 million a year in the Big XII. They took the loan from the school to cover that loss one year. They requested an abatement when it came due, but we’re told “no” and “no, you’re getting another $20 to cover this year”.

As such, they were the only Big XII school to grab the Nebraska and Colorado exit money to help their situation.

 

[mchammer]

Not just “NO”, but abso-*******-lately NOT! Undergrad matters.

In the business school, engineering school, architectural school, law school, where you graduate, determines your first job and who trains you, both of which make you more desirable and employable throughout you entire career.

Certain fields of study like education and nursing are less exclusive as the employers want you educated from wherever and experienced.

Grad schools also look primarily at your undergrad school as a qualification for admission.

This is true to a large extent. Graduating from UT with PhD in chemical engineering put me on the fast track at my company and I was initially mentored by my boss who is now VP of technology. I had high visibility within the corporation by giving technical presentations to VP’s and divisional president in my first 2 years on the job. After that, yes it was my capability that determined my career, but I started at a high position of visibility.

 

[Htown77]

UT is horribly managed as far as its finances go.

 

[ViperHorn]

UT is horribly managed as far as its finances go.

All government-owned organizations are horribly managed as far as their finances go. For you younger guys this is what happens when there is basically an open checkbook with no fear of financial failure and no one is held responsible.

 

[Phil Elliott]

You take away the profit motive from any business and everything goes straight to hell.

 

[blonthang]

Phil E,

Your comment couldn't be more timely:

Panera Bread's Socialist 'Pay What You Want' Experiment Fails Miserably

 

[theiioftx]

Hilarious responses.

Redass picture for Aggie pull out day

 

[Horn6721]

Aggy apparently doesn't know either

 

[rick mueller]

Hilarious responses.

Redass picture for Aggie pull out day

I keep saying it! I've become a broken record. You can't make this stuff up.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

You can't make it up, but you can put lipstick on it and get rid of it to the SEC!!!

 

[Detective Shilala]

That’s right, and there are no backsies.

 

[blonthang]

Salk and Sabin would walk away shaking their heads: "We're sorry, there's NO vaccine for such a virus as 'aggy' --- Ebola, we might be able to find a vaccine for that --- 'aggy', uh, no."

 

[yelladawgdem]

Salk and Sabin would walk away shaking their heads: "We're sorry, there's NO vaccine for such a virus as 'aggy' --- Ebola, we might be able to find a vaccine for that --- 'aggy', uh, no."

Just like herpes. No known cure.

 

[SabreHorn]

Dawg,

You forgot that like herpes, they always come back

 

[Chop]

This is true to a large extent. Graduating from UT with PhD in chemical engineering put me on the fast track at my company and I was initially mentored by my boss who is now VP of technology. I had high visibility within the corporation by giving technical presentations to VP’s and divisional president in my first 2 years on the job. After that, yes it was my capability that determined my career, but I started at a high position of visibility.

"Graduating from UT with PhD in chemical engineering..."

Well then, here's an old Darrell Royalism for ya: 'That boy's smarter than a tree full of owls.'

A bit more funny bone stuff:

Q: What's the difference between a chemical engineer and a petroleum engineer?

A: Chemical engineers often deal with plastics. Petroleum engineers often deal with clastics.

 

[wadster]

This is true to a large extent. Graduating from UT with PhD in chemical engineering put me on the fast track at my company and I was initially mentored by my boss who is now VP of technology. I had high visibility within the corporation by giving technical presentations to VP’s and divisional president in my first 2 years on the job. After that, yes it was my capability that determined my career, but I started at a high position of visibility.

Just depends. I have an MS in Computer Science from UTA and a BS in Biology from UT. I don't even bother to put my education on my resume until the end of page 2. I've achieved some of the highest levels at 2 of the most prestigious tech companies in the world. I talk to a 1-2 CIOs every month helping them set their digital transformation initiatives. Where I learned data structures, Fortran, or Assembler is completely irrelevant. The fact that I've co-authored a book, spoken at major conferences, and published several articles plus success along the way are all people care about. Where I went to school doesn't even come up in an interview and it's completely irrelevant. It matters in the first 5 years. After that no one cares. You make your own success along the way. In tech, you have to embrace living on the latest technology curve and never ever being comfortable where you are. Treat your customers like you'd treat your best friends. Also being a risk taker is almost mandatory. I've never seen someone get to the top of the top that wasn't a pretty big risk taker and not afraid to fail. If you're in business school, contacts matter more, but in IT no one gives a crap. Also, being comfortable talking tech to the techies and business requirements to business and interpreting what both need to be successful isn't taught in school.

 

[theiioftx]

First, getting the right degree is much more important than where you got your degree. What you do with your degree is then what really matters.

 

[Dionysus]

being comfortable talking tech to the techies and business requirements to business and interpreting what both need to be successful isn't taught in school.

For sure. I have worked in IT all my professional life and no matter how good your technical skills are, if you don’t understand the business and have strong communications skills your career options will be limited. I suppose this is true for any field if you want to move into management/leadership roles.

In tech, you have to embrace living on the latest technology curve and never ever being comfortable where you are.

I think this may be what I have liked most about working in tech. It moves quickly and there is always something new to learn.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

40-1

Interesting spin on odds that basically put you in a mid-to-low top 20 ranking.

They were determined to be bigger than Texas and so they pushed their enrollment. Still here Aggies bragging about this, and to be fair, it's easy to get sucked into the idea that we're great because a bunch of people go here.

 

[blonthang]

University of Phoenix - Wikipedia

"The University of Phoenix claimed a peak enrollment of almost 600,000 students in 2010, but its numbers have declined sharply since then. Enrollment was 142,500 on August 31, 2016.[2] In 2017, it was acquired by Apollo Global Management, an American private equity firm.[8]

University of Phoenix has been under investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission since 2015."


Shaquille O'Neal - Wikipedia

"Subsequently, O'Neal earned an online MBA degree through the University of Phoenix in 2005.

Toward the end of his playing career, he began work on an educational doctorate at Barry University.[172][173] His doctoral capstone[174][175] topic was "The Duality of Humor and Aggression in Leadership Styles".[172][176] O'Neal received his Ed.D. degree in Human Resource Development in 2012."


Barry University - Wikipedia

"Forbes's 2015 Ranking of America's Best Colleges: ranked Barry University 615th on their list of America's Top Colleges."


I'm not sure what all that means, but, there it is.

 

[Austin_Bill]

For sure. I have worked in IT all my professional life and no matter how good your technical skills are, if you don’t understand the business and have strong communications skills your career options will be limited. I suppose this is true for any field if you want to move into management/leadership roles.

I think this may be what I have liked most about working in tech. It moves quickly and there is always something new to learn.

One of my good friends is a electrical engineer who is a director at Lockheed Martin up in Dallas. He got his under grad degree from UTSA and a graduate degree from TCU. He is over guys that got their degree from Harvard and MIT because unlike those guys, he knows how to communicate with people. He understands engineering and can talk shop with those guys and he is excellent in talking with the BOD and getting buy-in from them.

He would be the first to tell you that the guys he has under him are much better engineers than he is, but they don't have his communication skills and that is why he is their manager.

 

[Joe Fan]

 

[ViperHorn]

I understand where Duke is coming from, but I had rather see a change to either "The University of Texas Agriculture, Mechanical and Natural Sciences Branch at College Station" or "Texas A&M University, a branch of The University of Texas".

 

[blonthang]

In line with aggy's tradition of the Tee You reference to UT-Austin, and please, let's leave off the "The" with any reference to anything aggy, why not "Texas University Agricultural and Mechanical Branch at College Station"?