Remaining faculty will be required to teach more hours, reducing personal attention to students. Purchase of needed teaching equipment and library materials will be delayed. There is a key role for alumni, especially those of us who live in Tennessee, to play. We desperately need to speak to our legislators and other state leaders to urge restoring higher education's historic priority position in state funding. Access to quality higher education is a key component in Tennessee's economic development.
Employers demand a well-trained work force, which higher education provides.
Higher education also trains the next generation of state leadership. As citizens, we can't afford to let our higher educational system slip. Those of us who care must act. We don't need mass letter writing campaigns or telephone banks. Tell your representative that you believe UT and higher education are very important to the state's economy.