The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is recommending state legislators consider replacing Tennessee State University’s Board of Trustees and management.
That recommendation is among the most severe presented in a special report released Wednesday on TSU’s handling of a student housing crisis that forced some students to live in a hotel. The report found the university seriously lacks necessary housing for its students and claims administrators worked to spike their enrollment despite those housing issues.
The recommendation sparked a strong response from Nashville State Senator Charlane Oliver who represents the part of Davidson County where TSU stands.
“I am deeply concerned by the State’s posture and share your sentiments about the future of Tennessee State University. I am completely in support of Tennessee State University 100% and am doing everything in my power to ensure TSU’s students, faculty, staff and administration are set up for success and can operate in excellence. While the Comptroller’s audit revealed some valid concerns that must be addressed, but the historical precedent and context that brought us to this point matters. The audit omitted the critical responsibility of the legislature to adequately fund the institution, which is a direct result of the situation that TSU finds itself in today.” wrote Senator Oliver in a letter shared on her Twitter page. “I urge my colleagues to resist any heavy-handed reactionary actions that could further jeopardize TSI’s ability to govern itself and serve students.”
TSU has been under investigation by the Comptroller’s office since its students reported to the Comptroller’s Higher Education Resource Officer (HERO) in July 2022 with scholarship and housing issues. At a time when TSU was already facing housing shortages, renting hotel and apartment complex space to meet student needs, University leadership elected to increase the scholarship budget from $6.4 million to $28.3 million.
The scholarship budget increase coincided with a major recruitment campaign. At a committee hearing in November of 2022, University President Dr. Glenda Glover told State Senators that TSU had planned to increase annual enrollment to 10,000 students by 2027.
TSU’s spike in enrollment followed major recruiting efforts that exacerbated the pre-existing housing shortage according to the report and students who were promised scholarships and housing became unsure of the reality of those promises.
“The report concludes that TSU leaders’ lack of planning, management, and sound decision-making exacerbated the need for emergency housing after TSU admitted a record number of students,” said the Comptroller’s Office in a press release .
Nearly every year since 2017, TSU’s demand for housing has exceeded its capacity of 3,680 on-campus beds according to the investigation. In the summer of 2022, TSU requested to lease six properties to provide emergency housing for students. In the Comptroller’s report, several students reported to the HERO that their full-cost scholarships were not awarded or that they had not received a housing assignment close to the beginning of the semester.
“On August 21, 2022, a Shelby County student’s parent reached out to the HERO and explained that her daughter’s scholarship had not been posted to her account and she had not received responses to emails she sent over a month prior. The parent also displayed concern about the lack of communication regarding housing. The parent stated that she received an email stating that she would receive updated information concerning housing between August 17 and August 21. However, as of the evening of August 21, 2022, TSU had not communicated any housing updates. On August 22, the student received her housing assignment, but as of August 23, she had not received any updates regarding her scholarship other than to continue checking her student account,” read one complaint.
According to the Comptroller’s report, approximately three quarters of provided scholarships were full-cost scholarships that promised housing.
TSU plans to build a new housing structure to combat its housing shortage, but four TSU residential buildings need to be demolished because they will soon no longer be useful. Even with the building of a new residence, TSU will still be left at a loss of bed space on campus with the destruction of old residences according to the report.
TSU’s President pushed back on the report in a response letter to the Comptroller’s Office that claims the issues have been resolved.
“We have already taken substantive measures and are taking additional measures to address the items of focus contained in your report, including in the areas of housing, enrollment, fiscal practices, and communications,” wrote Dr. Glover.
Story updated to include response from Senator Charlane Oliver.
