UT President John Petersen's announcement of an additional $17 million in statewide budget cuts has many University of Tennessee students, faculty and staff concerned.

The new cuts come in the wake of this summer's $21 million budget cuts that left three UTK programs facing elimination, including the audiology and speech pathology program, which only survived due to its relocation to UT's Memphis campus.

Students wonder what may face the chopping block this time around.

At an Oct. 18 meeting of the newly formed Committee on Effectiveness and Efficiency for the Future, Petersen said the board was not planning on any hiring freezes or tuition hikes in response to the cuts, but would instead look at strategic solutions such as reorganizing and consolidating departments and increasing the number of online courses.People don't pay $30,000 to go to school here to take classes online.Brittnie Peck, sophomore in psychology

The board of trustees has also set up a new interactive Web site  in order to allow interested parties a more active role.

With last summer's budget cuts, many students have already found it difficult to register for or even find the upper-level classes they need, as the cuts meant fewer sections for some courses.

When students cannot enroll in the classes they need for their major requirements, it can be stressful, Audrey Crockett, a sophomore in psychology, said.

"I couldn't get into one class, psychology of gender, which would have double counted for my College of Arts and Sciences and psychology requirements," she said. "And if I can't get it soon I'll have to take two different classes to make up for the one."

Petersen's proposed increasing of online courses elicited strong responses from students, such as Brittnie Peck, a sophomore in human resource management.

"People don't pay $30,000 to go to school here to take classes online," Peck, who is an out-of-state student, said.

A group of UT staff, students and faculty met to voice concern over the new budget cuts at an Oct. 22 rally organized by the United Campus Workers, a local union of UT faculty and staff.

The students must come first. Colton Griffin, SGA senator for SJUMembers of the UT student political group Students for a Just University were also in attendance to voice their dissatisfaction.

SJU president Samuel Mortimer, who spoke at the rally, said that the overall quality of education decreases with cuts and, "our participation in last week's rally was a simple call to... put a higher priority on public higher education in Tennessee."

Colton Griffin, an SGA senator for SJU, said their group feels the state and UT's administration have numerous options to fully fund UT's budget, such as closing tax loopholes, tapping the state's rainy day fund, and trimming administrative costs rather than professors and classes.

"The students must come first," Griffin said.