UNR and then Statewide Resolutions
After considering the plight of various UNR students regarding their housing and stipends they get, Matthew Hawn, the President of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) which represents the more than 3,600 graduate students at UNR, along with 25 other elected members, decided to present a Housing Resolution to highlight the problems that the current students are facing.
The authors of the resolution, Matthew Hawn (GSA President), Taissa Lytchenko (GSA Internal Vice President), Fatema Azmee (College of Liberal Arts & Journalism Representative), Monika Bharti (College of Education and Human Development Resolution) and Arturo Macias Franco (College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, & Natural Resources Representative) requested American Rescue Plan funds for universities in Nevada to go toward supporting affordable housing for students. After careful consideration, the GSA council members voted unanimously and passed the resolution on November 30, 2021.
A partnership was also formed with UNLV's Nicole Thomas (representing UNLV's Graduate and Professional Student Association-GPSA). Together the two graduate student bodies submitted a similar resolution to the Nevada Student Alliance (NSA) to be presented to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents.
The NSA acts as an overarching student government association for all 10 NSHE student government organizations and represents 110,000 students.
UNR and UNLV grad students then passed a joint resolution on December 2, urging the state to use American Rescue Plan funds for affordable housing for graduate students. To follow suit, the GPSA, also passed a similar resolution on December 2nd to match the NSA and GSA Resolutions.
President Hawn believes that with these funds UNR, a R1 Carnegie Institution, will be able to help its highly valued research students diminish some of the unnecessary pressures that a student might face due to high housing costs in the Reno area, which he says serves as a barrier to entry for students seeking a higher graduate degree.
“Unless we ban together to address the devastating problem of unaffordable housing in Nevada, our young and vulnerable generations will continue bearing the crux of the financial burden. Is this really the way we want to equip future leaders of our world? “ asked Taissa Lytchenko, Vice President of Internal Affairs, for GSA. “I truly hope that the current Nevada administration has the willpower to answer this urgent call to action to help our students in need.”
Gripping Testimonies for Help
Other members who also helped put the resolution together include GSA General Council Members Fatema Azmee, Monika Bharti and Arturo Macias Franco.
Bharti, an Indian international Ph.D. student at UNR residing in Reno for the last seven years, said, “I think GSA's Housing Resolution will provide a sense of direction on how to make housing opportunities available to both international and [local] students as well as it gives a clear picture of what barriers do exists when it comes to housing. And I think, without question, creating more affordable housing is fundamentally important.”
“Prices in Reno are too high, and graduate students cannot afford to live here, we risk losing talented individuals to other institutions because of the prices of rent and the low stipend offered by the University,” said Fatema Azmee, a Master's student in History who has been a Reno resident for the past twenty-three years.
“The cost of living has gone up, but our stipend has remained the same. This resolution is important because legislators and people need to know that the graduate student population is growing at UNR but in terms of funding we are very limited compared to undergraduates. Many people view graduate education as optional, but a higher educational institution cannot function without us. Graduate students lead discussion sections and labs, grade, do research and help undergraduates and professors in other various ways. For example, I have gone out of my way to help my students write their essays holding one-on-one zoom meetings with them during the late evenings or even my weekends. UNR is becoming a top tier institution and the President [Brian Sandoval] has big hopes and dreams for the university. I think it would be wonderful if UNR can become part of the Association of American Universities [an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education] like President Sandoval aspires too. However, they cannot reach this milestone without great graduate students, and we cannot be great when we are focused on whether or not we have to choose between rent, gas, or food. Our students are mentally exhausted, stretched thin, and with the increases in student housing are at a breaking point. Receiving funds for student housing would help us succeed, so we can help our undergraduates and our professors succeed too.'“
A Student Not Knowing Where He was Going to Sleep
Arturo Macias Franco, PhD Student in the Animal and Rangeland Sciences Program who also helped with the drafting of the Resolution said he had to have three jobs concurrently while attending school full time, and not always with stable shelter. “I always prioritized my education and making my tuition payments so that I could persevere on my dreams,” he said. “With that, I unfortunately experienced hardships that teenagers and students should never have to experience. Finishing 20-hour shifts, working overnight cleaning carpets and toilets, I recall finishing my shifts not knowing where I would sleep each night. At times, lucky enough to have a couch or a floor inside of friends and family houses, keeping up with my schoolwork and research was extremely challenging.”
Franco said sadly he’s heard of many others who have been in his situation. “No student should ever have to choose between skipping meals, or losing their homes in pursuit of their educational dreams,” he said. “The current increases in rent in Reno are extremely alarming and should particularly be worrisome to NSHE and its institutions for the wellbeing and continuation of many students is at jeopardy. As a land-grant institution, serving the state and all Nevadans should be our focus. It is clear that NSHE, our governing body, and our executive leadership should be committed to serving the wellbeing of all students, not only those who can afford the increasing fees. “
The housing crisis in Reno is not a recent problem but a perpetual struggle that a student faces here, year after year, without a permanent solution. Graduate students only have one graduate housing unit which is now having almost equivalent rent as other apartments in Reno.
Ponderosa village, a housing complex located on campus, only available to graduate students, professional students, faculty and staff, also proposed a 4.5% increase in their accommodation rates for Fiscal year 2023. This means a one bedroom will go from $1,150 to $1,202 per month for a yearly lease, and a two bedroom full unit from $1,370 to $1,432. There is also a two bedroom shared unit possibility which will go from $705 to $737.
The GSA voted against the proposed rent increase after surveying the residents of Ponderosa village twice. However, the Board of Regents on their December 2, 2021 meeting voted in favor of the rent increase with just one of the regents against and one absent.
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NSA RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF PROVIDING FUNDS FROM THE ARP TO INDIVIDUAL NSHE INSTITUTIONS FOR AFFORDABLE STUDENT HOUSING - https://nshe.nevada.edu/wp-content/uploads/Academic-Affairs/Student-Govt/NSA%20Resolution%20Supporting%20the%20Use%20of%20American%20Recovery%20Plan%20Funds%20for%20Affordable%20Student%20Housing%20(Signed).pdf