The Tennessee legislature recently took another step to aid the plight of homeless people seeking higher education.
On February 5, Sens. Jeff Yarbro (D) and Rusty Crowe (R) sponsored SB 0763, a new bill written to guarantee that homeless students have access to a devoted resource on public college campuses in Tennessee: housing.
After making one amendment to address some clarifications, the Senate passed the bill with a unanimous decision on March 11.
This bill states that universities in Tennessee must assign a staff person to serve as a homeless-student liaison. This liaison will be required to assist homeless students who are enrolled or planning to enroll, and, if the school offers housing resources, the university will be required to provide homeless students with access to its housing resources.
Currently, the best resource for homeless students at UTM is the Division of Student Affairs.
According to Dr. Andy Lewter, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, having an office to assist students with problems such as homelessness is a high priority for UTM.
“The University has and will continue to assist students who have needs as they are brought to our attention,” Lewter said.
As for how many UTM students face the challenge of homelessness, the exact number is unknown. UTM does not yet keep track of the number of homeless students that it serves.
“We know that there are students with housing instability at UT Martin although it’s often hard to assess,” Chancellor Dr. Keith Carver said. “Students will give permanent addresses, but they might not be living there during certain times of the semester.”
“Obviously, we want to do all we can to assist these students,” said Carver.
“We hope that they’ll reach out to someone in Student Affairs or Academic Affairs to ask for help.”
UTM students in need can visit the Student Affairs office for assistance and access to the various resources available on campus.
The office is located in the University Center, Room 245.
For more information, contact the UTM Office of Student Affairs at (731) 881-7700 or Lewter at jlewter@utm.edu.
