Students interested in broadening their cultural horizons will have a new opportunity beginning in the Fall 2004 semester, according to Jim Grubb, director of University Housing.
The UT Housing department and the Center for International Education have collaborated to bring students the International Roommate Program, which will pair international students with American students in housing assignments.
“Each year we have about 50 international exchange students who come to UT,” Grubb said. “They really prefer to live with American students, but there is always a problem with assigning them to residence halls.”
Grubb cited this problem’s origin in the current method of assignment, which is done completely at random.
Jim Gehlhar, director of the CIE, also added that sometimes problems arise from roommate assignment when students are not informed in advance that they will be living with an international student.
“Sometimes American students who are assigned an international roommate may not want to be in this situation,” he said.
The International Roommate Program, however, will assign exchange students to housing with voluntary roommates.
Students who sign up for this program will be paired in groups of four – two international students and two American students – in a four-person apartment in the Apartment Residence Hall, Grubb explained.
Current UT students still retain the option of choosing their other American roommate, Grubb added.
“This process just makes it a more organized program,” Grubb said.
The voluntary basis for the program also ensures that everyone involved can benefit from participating.
“This is an increasingly small world,” Gehlhar said. “It is important that everyone have an ability to get along with persons of other backgrounds. (The program is) an ideal way for people from one country to get to know people from other countries.”
Grubb also added that the benefits are both mutual and limitless.
“The program gives them (students) the opportunity to learn about each other’s culture,” he said, “as well as develop language skills or just have a broader experience here at UT.
“It’s also beneficial for UT students thinking about studying abroad in the future,” Grubb added.
The International Roommate Program is not a guaranteed full-year commitment, however.
Gehlhar explained that some international students only attend UT for one semester, which may leave an open space in the participating students’ apartment.
If new international students attend only in the spring semester, though, “they will take the spaces that were occupied by the single semester students in the fall,” he explained.
Gehlhar also added that this depends on both the number and gender of international students who will attend either semester, as arrangements will need to be made for both conditions.
Students interested in participating in this program can pick up an application in the Housing department office located in Room 405 of the Student Services Building or print one from their Web site at http://uthousing.utk.edu. Applications printed from the Web site must still be returned to the department office, however.
Grubb stated that Monday, Feb. 16 is the deadline for applications and they hope to have all students selected by Feb. 23, when room selection for fall begins, but the department will continue to take applications if they do not receive enough by that time.
Gehlhar also assured that the CIE would do its best to notify the students selected to participate in the program with contact information for their international roommates as soon as the information becomes available.
“This is a great opportunity,” Gehlhar said. “Universities are traditional about expanding horizons and a program like this can definitely expand a student’s horizons.”
