Student senate pushing Hope Scholarship summer accreditation
In keeping with recent passed legislation, the SGA student senate is pushing forward to extend Hope Scholarship funding to the summer term.
A student-initiated, letter-writing campaign was originally suggested to sway lawmakers in Nashville to support the extension.
This week SGA is putting that plan into action.
“This letter-writing campaign for the (Tennessee) Hope Lottery Scholarship to be extended to the Summer Semesters is extremely important, in not only that it will let students voices be heard across the state to elected officials, but it will also, if successful, allow students to receive a great education in a timely manner, without having to incur a greater expense or more time,” Avery Howard, student services director, said in a statement.
Interested students can stop in the Haslam Business Building or the UC from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday or Thursday this week to fill out postcards that will be sent to their representative in the state legislature.
The process does not take long, and an outpouring of student-body support for the initiative could impact the opinions of Nashville lawmakers.
“(Tennessee) students currently cannot use their Hope Scholarship money for summer school,” Carey Smith, UT student trustee, said. “The issue is now receiving some visibility in Nashville, and students need to let their voices be heard. By sending a letter to your elected officials, you can help us generate the visibility and support we need to get this issue resolved during this legislative session.”
The SGA is collectively highlighting the importance of student participation in these efforts.
“This is an issue that many students take to heart,” Smith said. “Even if you are a graduating senior and will not directly benefit from the measure if it passes, you likely know someone that will. By extending the scholarship to cover summer semesters, students will likely be able to fulfill degree requirements in a more efficient manner.”
While the letter-writing campaign could possibly have a great impact in Nashville, extraordinary effort is not required to participate.
“This is an easy and quick process,” Smith said. “All you need to do is fill out your return address, sign your postcard and fill in your elected official’s name. If you do not know who your elected officials are, you can find out here: capitol.tn.gov If you do not have a chance to stop by and fill out a letter, we still encourage you to contact your elected official, by e-mail, phone or otherwise.”
SGA representatives are hoping the turnout for the event will be strong.
“Students should come out in support of this campaign, because it can ultimately benefit them or someone they know who has a hope of receiving an education from an institution of higher education,” Howard said. “The process is easy and will only take a few minutes of students time.”
Behind the scenes, schools across the UT system are coming together behind SGA’s efforts.
“The UTK Undergraduate Student Senate, as well as the Student Government Associations at UT Chattanooga, have passed resolutions supporting the measure,” Smith said. “A similar resolution is scheduled for a vote at UT-Martin next week. We plan to send these to Nashville, as well as the press coverage that we have been receiving. There very well may be more opportunities for students to help in the future, and I encourage them to be on the lookout for those. Currently, however, we are working very hard to expand our efforts beyond the UT system, gaining momentum on other college campuses across the state.”
Despite the lengthy process required to bring about a change in the funding system, the potential benefits for UT students is inspiring a great deal of excitement on campus.
“We hope this brings visibility (and support) to an issue that is important to students statewide,” Smith said. “Naturally, we hope the campaign ends with passed legislation altering the scholarship to cover summer semesters.”
Student representatives look forward to slight changes in the legislature that could make big impacts in the lives of students.
“Of course I hope that students will be able to use their Hope Scholarship for summer school,” Howard said. “This will allow them to graduate in an efficient manner. I will say that I don’t want there to be an increase of funding for students to use, just a reallocation of the funds, based on when the student chooses to use them.”
