The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that it has suspended the closure of 13 student Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs, which includes the ROTC program at UTM. Members of Congress were notified along with officials at the affected universities.
According to the notification, the Army will now review the criteria used for the recommended closures. Once this review is complete, the Army will reassess all student ROTC programs nationwide and “develop a formal 24-month probationary program for schools failing to meet the evaluation criteria.” Programs demonstrating “no improvement in achieving performance goals or meeting criteria by the end of the first year will receive one year’s notice of intent to close the unit.”
Programs that show improvement or meet evaluation criteria will receive a second year of probation, and at the end of 24 months, schools retained for a second year will be re-evaluated. “At that time, they (the schools) will either receive one year’s notice of intent to close the unit or be retained,” the notification stated.
UTM announced in October that its program was among 13 in the nation scheduled for closure in 2015. Other Tennessee universities facing ROTC closures were East Tennessee State University in Johnson City and Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville.
“We’re grateful to our elected officials and the Army for suspending the closure of UTM’s ROTC program,” said Dr. Tom Rakes, university chancellor. “We will work hard to meet the Army’s criteria for keeping the program open.”
Dr. Todd Winters, dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences where the ROTC program resides, is also pleased with the Army’s decision and thanked those who have worked on behalf of the program. “However, this allows us to just take a breath. The game isn’t over,” Winters said. “We’ll continue to make adjustments to the program to render it more economical and efficient.”
An ROTC unit was first established at the university in 1952, followed by the start of a four-year ROTC program in 1964. Since the program’s beginnings, 651 cadets have been commissioned as second lieutenants in the regular Army, the U.S. Army Reserve and the Tennessee Army National Guard.
The university’s military science program, of which ROTC is a part, includes Jackson State Community College, Lane College, Freed-Hardeman University, Bethel University and Union University. Enrollment for fall semester 2013 is 85 basic course cadets and 26 advanced course cadets.
