The Tennessee Higher Education Commission conducted a survey of UTM students, indicating that we are overall satisfied with our university, more so than others across Tennessee.

The Paul Meek Library was one of the areas that did not fare as well as its counterparts across the state. In an age of instant information, we are not surprised that a brick-and-mortar research facility was not high on the list of UTM students’ accolades.

The library’s hours aren’t in line with the study habits of students. Larger universities can afford to maintain almost around-the-clock library services, but it is unrealistic to have that expectation of our library. If research is to be done at 3 a.m., it is best done on the Internet.

Library personnel are knowledgeable and helpful, but we have heard and witnessed on a few occasions where staff were less than pleasant to deal with. It’s not an easy job, but a smile every now and then brightens everyone’s day.

The Office of Information Technology Services also scored below the state average in student satisfaction. Students are spending an increasing amount of time in front of the computer for academic and personal endeavors, so it is no surprise that this area would draw a great deal of focus.

Some students and professors are fans of Blackboard, while others loathe using it. We see a need for a middle ground when implementing new academic support services. Many students, albeit fewer each year, still do not know how to log in to their campus e-mail.

And no, we are not advocating re-opening back up the peer-to-peer file sharing ports on campus.

It is perhaps only a coincidence that the two services dealing with research and information were not held in high regard by UTM students. It does suggest, we hope, that students are hungry for learning. With almost half of first-time lottery scholarship students forfeiting their aid because of poor grades, this is good news.