The State of Tennessee has slashed UTM’s Supplemental Instruction program by two thirds.

The SI program is a program where upper division students tutor students that are taking lower division classes that may seem hard for students just leaving high school.

We understand that cuts had to be made somewhere in this year’s budget, but the state needs to realize that we are an university first and foremost and our main focus should be academics.

We’re not saying that anything that doesn’t involve academics should be cut, but that there should be a healthy balance to the cuts instead of drastically reducing one program.

When UT President John Peterson visited UTM, he explained his plan on raising UT’s graduation rate among other things.

However, the SI program has been slashed, a program that has helped many students pass a class that they would have normally failed. How many students would have flunked out of college if it weren’t for the SI program?

The UT System and the State of Tennessee talk about taking two steps forward for academics, but instead takes three steps backwards.

Of all the things that could be cut from our budget, the powers that hold the checkbook think that the SI program is the least important?

We hold out hope that the SI program will return next year to help students once again.