Folks:

One central issue in discussing these cuts is that the university administration is proposing these measures without looking at (or letting the faculty, staff and students look at) the WHOLE university budget.  I get the impression from some of the discussion that some people think Dr. Friedl is in charge of allocating all of UTC's money.  As I understand it (and perhaps I'm misinformed),  around 57% of the whole UTC budget is currently allocated to the non-academic areas, which are not under the Provost's control.  Dr. Friedl has posted the academic portion of the budget on the UTC website, but he has had to come up with these proposals more or less in a vacuum, since the academic portion of the budget is the only part that is available for inspection.  All of the non-academic parts of the budget remain undisclosed.  Before Dr. Friedl must make the move to shut down any area from his budget, the entire campus needs a chance to discuss priorities for ALL areas of the budget.  Perhaps it's time to give at least half of the total budget to academics, since this place once was intended to be an academic institution, not primarily a business partnership with the City of Chattanooga or the metropolitan community.

Melissa Burchfield
Non-exempt staff member, alumna and adjunct instructor