deucetz wrote:Do the opposite, stop trying to compete with Baylor, TCU and UT--it's a losing game that we have kept playing.
Keep student size the same or even shrink it. I'm not sure why one would want to increase the student size before we maximize what we currently have. Increasing the student size will only exacerbate our current issue with academic quality. Our increasing student quality is a false narrative--High school GPAs are increasing with inflation, and SAT scores have gone up over time as well. SMU isn't outpacing the competition thus the stagnant US News rankings when it comes to academic quality, student quality, and resources.
Steps SMU should take:
-Build up funds so that the majority of undergrads will graduate with no student loans or under 15K upon graduation, increase scholarships for our competitive graduate programs.
-Spend money on faculty to get higher quality with more competitive academic backgrounds that focus on research and teaching.
-Reduce administrative bloat.
-Go the Rice route but make sure that we still invest in competitive sports.
-Build academic resources so 85 to 90 percent of students graduate in 4 years.
-Focus on half the students getting MDs, PhDs, and JDs, while the other half get competitive jobs nation wide (and get MBAs later).
-If you want to cheat the system a little, build up international student population.
Horrible idea.
1.) Get more Texas/Regional students, get our applications up over 20,000 by investing more in sports, which leads directly to visibility and applications increase.
2.) Get only as many international students as you need to balance the budget....as almost all foreign students are a 100% pay
3.) Drive down cost by having more revenue from increased students.
4.) Do a better job of getting students good paying jobs.....I think the school is horrible at connecting with SMU alum who run businesses.
5.) Start a medical and dental school with a new fundraising initiative
6.) Get Lyle into aeronautical engineering so we can partner with all of the large A&D firms in the area, Textron, L3, etc. Both 5 and 6 will also help grow our visibility thus drive applications as well.
Tell students to go to games or they get kicked out of school. The end.