Fewer classes, less perks, and newer, short-term teachers are just a few of the alterations expected at UTM.

All of the Departments across the campus are working together on every aspect of the budget situation. They want to make the cuts as painless as possible for the students and the faculty. The more cuts they are able to make, the less tuition will have to be raised next year.

According to information received from the Department of Student Affairs, some of the cuts to be made by include cutting back on sending staff to conferences. They will still try to send staff whenever possible just not as often as in the past.

The Fine Dining program will also be cut out of the budget. This was a wonderful dining experience, but it is not a necessity. The large number of freebies during freshman welcome week will also be done away with. The university was spending a lot of money on t-shirts and other UTM products distributed during that week. They will now try to look for sponsors to help out in that area.

International week will still be included in the budget. However the faculty and staff will be responsible for all of the events going on. In the past people were hired and brought to UTM to help with the event.

Also, residents of Martin are now going to have to pay a little extra to use the Elam pool.

Dr. Katie High, vice chancellor of Student Affairs said, “As we looked at our proposed cut in the area of Student Affairs, we're guided by one principle, which is to take the money we are allocated and spend it as wisely as we can.”

According to information received from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, as many cuts as possible are being made so that student's education will be affected as little as possible.

Five classes from the art council were cut. This will have little effect on students. The arts council was offered more for the community.

Travel expenses will also be cut. They do not want to cut travel expenses entirely for the teachers because it is a good incentive for them. Traveling and going to seminars allows teachers to present their academic work and learn new things to bring back and share with the students.

There is also a possibility that some sequences will have to cut back on the number of classes offered in their sections. There have been many retirements in humanities. This means new teachers can be brought in at a lower pay base and may or may not be hired permanently. They may be put on a one- year contract. This helps the university by not having to keep the faculty employed if the budget does not allow it the preceding year. There are mixed feelings about what this means for the future of UTM.

“This threatens the stability as well as the bonds that students form with professors here at UTM”, said Maggie Dandridge, a freshman Fashion Design Major. “Students will no longer be able to recommend certain professors to other students because the professors have the possibility of no longer being here.”

“It meets the short-term financial constraints due to the state budget. However it could have a long-term negative impact on the university”, said Dr. Jeff Hoyer, assistant professor of communications. “People who anticipate long-term relationship with the university are committed to strengthening the reputation of the school.”

On the other hand according to Dr. Jerald Ogg, dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, this will not affect the quality of teaching at UTM because all part-time and term staff have to be SAC qualified in order to teach.

“The bad news with these budget cuts is that they will inevitably affect the quantity of what we are able to offer”, said Ogg. “We simply can't teach the same number of sections with fewer dollars. The good news, though, is that the cuts will not affect the quality of a UT Martin degree. If our faculty were driven by money, they would not be in education, and they won't let this distract them from continuing to provide our students with the best educational experience in the state.”

These are just a few of the steps being taken by each of these individual departments. Faculty and students will be notified as soon as possible about any cuts that will affect them directly. Numerous faculty and staff members have repeated time and time again “it's not the student fault”. They are working hard and keeping the interests of the students in mind while making any decisions.