* UTC PINCH State leaders may think the sweeping new higher education law ends dozens of years of missteps at state colleges and universities, but it may cause big problems for UTC.FAST FACTS* 42 percent of UTC students graduate within six years* THEC may require the school to increase the rate by 3 percent each year* Of the 1,266 UTC undergraduates who graduated this year, 3 percent would mean 39 additional studentsSource: UTC
UTC faculty were beginning to digest the sweeping statewide higher education changes when administrators dropped another pair of directives.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will face more budget cuts in state appropriations - 6 percent, or $2.8 million - and may have to increase graduation rates by 3 percent each year or face even more budget reductions, Chancellor Roger Brown said.
Cutting nonacademic services, furloughs and layoffs are being considered as UTC administrators try to figure out how to support financially the record 10,526 students who enrolled in the fall semester.
"Faculty positions have been protected so far," said Dr. Brown. "We will struggle mightily to make sure that is still the case."
Projections for state revenue collections continue to fall, and Dr. Brown said the UTC campus is now planning for what school officials were told a month ago is a worst-case scenario.
Since 2008, UTC has lost 13.9 percent of its state appropriations, a total of $8 million. In 2012, the school will lose millions of dollars of federal stimulus aid.
The cuts come as UTC will be required to raise significantly its graduation rate of 42 percent, the lowest in the UT system.
Dr. Brown said the Tennessee Higher Education Commission will look for a graduation-rate increase of 3 percent every year under a new higher education funding formula.
UTC faculty members expressed concern over the requirements last week at a full faculty meeting.
"We need to start calling the Tennessee Higher Education Commission 'T-H---,'" said Irene Loomis, an associate professor of math at UTC.
Dr. Brown said the only fast way to boost graduation rates is to raise admission standards and accept only academically successful students. Officials are researching how higher standards will affect access and diversity.
Under the new higher education model, which encourages students to begin at two-year community colleges and transfer to four-year degree programs, UTC may no longer be able to afford a mission of accessibility.
"How will (the new formula) pay us when we grow at the robust rate we have experienced at UTC?" Dr. Brown said.
History professor Richard Rice said the school is being asked to do too much with too little.
With new mandated statewide transfer policies, UTC will be required to accept as full-fledged juniors students whom school officials may think aren't academically prepared, he said. The school also will have fewer dollars to bring those students up to speed and will be penalized if they don't make it to graduation, he said.
"On one hand, we are being asked to take graduates from community colleges," said Dr. Rice. "At the same time, we have to rely on the quality of the community colleges."