Speakers at January's meeting of the Texas A&M University faculty senate included A&M system chancellor John Sharp.

Sharp's remarks began with a preview of the legislative session that recently started.

Questions from members of the faculty senate included addressing the continued growth in student enrollment. The chancellor said that's the responsibility of president Michael Young. Sharp added applicants for next year's A&M freshman class get rejection letters, they are told they are admitted to 10 of the system's regional universities.

Sharp was also asked about A&M's financial SWOT...an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The chancellor said A&M's greatest strength is the Permanent University Fund, which is revenue shared with the University of Texas from energy production in the Permian Basin.

The chancellor also told a professor from A&M's campus in Galveston that efforts continue to get Congress to appropriate $200 to $300 million dollars to finance the construction of a training ship for the school's maritime program.