This year, students needing extra help in introductory-level classes may have to look a little harder, after the State of Tennessee pulled funding for UTM’s Supplemental Instruction program.

Supplemental Instruction (SI) relied on students who previously earned A’s or B’s in entry-level courses in math, English, foreign languages, political science, history and science to tutor students enrolled in those classes. Supplemental instructors attended the classes, took notes and led outside study sessions.

But now, UTM is trying to cover a $100,000 shortfall left by a state grant.

George Daniel, director of the Student Success Center, said this year’s cut is only a one-time loss.

“In fact, we’re filling out the application [for next year] right now,” Daniel said. “We’re submitting it to the state next week.”

Daniel said the Student Success Center was able to preserve 20 SI sections, down from the usual 62, by diverting money from a five-year, $1.8-million federal Title III grant intended for supporting freshmen.

This year’s 20 SI sections will cost about $25,000, all from the Title III grant. Normally, the federal grant funds $15,000 of supplemental instruction, but with the state grant cut, the Student Success Center was forced to chip in an additional $10,000 to preserve SI sessions in math and science, traditionally the most-failed courses for freshmen.

“We’re very sold on the idea of supplemental instruction,” Daniel said. “We’re certainly disappointed with the cut. We believe in the effectiveness of SI to help students be successful in the classroom.”

He said last year almost 25 percent of students enrolled in courses with supplemental instruction used the free resource. The course failure rate for students participating in SI was 9 percent, half that of students who did not use SI.

The 1,779 SI study sessions last year will be significantly reduced this year, Daniel said.

Daniel did not know the reason for the cut, but he suspected there was an increase in other areas in the state budget, which caused the diversion of funds normally given to UTM to fund SI.

Although UTM was able to save SI for entry-level math and science courses, other departments that relied on SI’s in the past are looking for other ways to serve students needing extra help.

“[The cut] is definitely detrimental to students who need extra help,” said Dan Nappo, interim chair of the UTM Department of Modern Foreign Languages. “We’ve hired more tutors to help in the language labs, but we have to pay them from our operating budget. We’re not going to have as many tutors as we had tutors and SI’s last year.”

Still, Nappo said professors will still keep office hours to help students, and the language lab is yet another resource for students needing extra help.

Last year, Modern Foreign Language used about 10 SI’s to help out in entry-level courses in Spanish, French, Japanese and German.

“We’ve had a lot of students come back wanting to know how to become an SI, and I have to tell them, ‘I’m sorry, it’s been cut,’” Nappo said.

Junior English major Jae Eslinger is one such student.

Eslinger came to campus intending to work as an SI in freshman English composition courses, just to be told the program had been cut.

“When I got back on campus, I was looking for a job, and they said I couldn’t work in the English departmental office, but [English Department Chair] Lynn Alexander said there might be some SI openings, then she told me that was cut,” Eslinger said.

Now, Eslinger is trying to find a job elsewhere, but she still believes in the value of supplemental instruction.

“A lot of kids come to college and have not been required to write a lot of essays,” she said. “They struggle, even with the help of their SI.”

Alexander said despite the cut, students can still benefit from the Writing Center.

“[SI] was just another avenue and another assistance for students, and I think it’s a shame English can’t be included, especially for composition classes, since writing is such an important part of the college curriculum,” Alexander said.

Still, she said she understood why SI’s for math and science were chosen to be saved, considering their difficulty.

Meanwhile, this year marks the inauguration of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s SI program, which is a pilot initiative with their Student Success Center and Math Department.

The SI program at UTK is not funded through grants, but is locally funded and will offer SI in two introductory math courses.

Tammy Kahrig, associate director for UTK’s Student Success Center, said she is confident the SI program will work.

“Hopefully, as time goes along, we will be able to expand the program to include other courses,” Kahrig said.

The SI concept was developed in 1973 by Deanna C. Martin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. SI is being used in some capacity in about one-third of U.S. colleges.