On Wednesday, the state budget was signed and consisted of a $70 million cut to the UNC system. $13.8 million is expected to come from N.C. State. A “management flow reduction” adjustment was mandated, which allowed for flexibility to cut within management but not from faculty. To avoid making these management cuts, a potential tuition increase may be in the works.

Obviously, we as students are going to react negatively to an increase in tuition. However, if the University meets us halfway we are more likely to understand the increase. The budget cut affects the administration and us, so both should bear the burden for it.

First, if students have to pay more tuition, the administration needs to look at what it can do to minimize the effect for us; because, the University’s goal should always be to put the students first. A reevaluation of the management hierarchy to find the most effective positions and eliminate any unnecessary ones is in order. Look at every office with an administrative branch at the University. The hierarchy consists of multiple executive assistants, administrative assistants, and more that can be decreased by half, if not more. In almost every department, there are a handful of positions that can be eliminated.

The University is made up of students, so our needs should be first. Therefore, any important student program should be the last to go. Making the college experience any more burdensome on us should be a last resort. The University’s job is to accommodate the students, so its last priority should be catering to administrators because of the budget deficit that the University is facing.

We shouldn’t have to graduate later because of decreased faculty or class sections. Instead of cutting back on tremendously beneficial programs like study abroad, leadership, service learning, and research opportunities, the University should explore options that do not take away from student growth and progress. These opportunities are exclusively available to college students, and to take that away from us is detrimental to our academic development. That is something we shouldn’t have to sacrifice, especially when there are other options that don’t take away precious opportunities.

The University needs to acknowledge that the students deserve to come first and should have to suffer loss of resources or increased tuition as an absolutely last resort.