I'm curious about faculty and staff opinions and feelings about financial
priorities here at UTC.  My curiosity centers around priorities for our use
of increasingly limited state and community resources...  and how those
limited resources impact the educational objectives of our work and the
mission of our university.

The primary question, I guess, is can we much longer justify supporting a
scholarship level football program?  The academic side of the university is
hurting badly this year because of budget problems--some of those problems
related to our athletic expenses...  and the state this year is unable to
meet our needs....  ...according to the local newspapers because of
inadequate support, at least one currently accredited UTC program is in
danger of accreditation loss.

At one time a fairly vocal group of faculty suggested that our football
program be changed from division one to non-scholarship. As I understood
the suggestion then, UTC's limited resources, freed from the costs of
maintaining division one could be used in ways that would benefit a larger
number of our students.

What are the feelings or opinions of our faculty and staff these days?

--kit



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