State leaders urge layoffs, land sales to shore up TSU budget

Why it matters: Tucker's meeting with the State Building Commission on Monday underscored the mammoth challenges the historically Black university faces.

• Even in a best-case scenario, Tucker and others said, the cash-strapped university is likely to run out of money by May.

Between the lines: State auditors pin the blame for the massive budget shortfall on past administrators, including former TSU president Glenda Glover. Glover said decades-long underfunding was to blame.

• Tucker and a TSU board member both told the building commission they were ready to sever ties with Glover, who had stayed on as an adviser after stepping down in June.

The big picture: TSU has already pursued layoffs and other cuts to address the shortfall. Even so, the university needed millions of dollars in emergency funds from the state to make payroll earlier this year.

• Monday's meeting made it clear the worst is not over.

State of play: "In order for Tennessee State to continue to be open, it's going to take a bailout," Tennessee comptroller Jason Mumpower said. "There's no way out of this without laying more people off."

• Mumpower also pressed TSU to consider selling its downtown satellite campus as well as property near the John C. Tune Airport.

The bottom line: "Everything should be on the table," Tucker said, acknowledging "hard decisions" ahead.

• Tucker, who served on the TSU board before getting tapped for the interim president gig last week, asked state leaders to give him a few weeks to assess the situation before committing to next steps.

What's next: The building commission agreed to meet with Tucker in February to get a full report on his plan.