Deans of Students’ basic needs team and SGA’s Basic Needs Committee work together to help students in need
Big Orange Pantry and Smokey’s Closet are located in the Student Union, room 283. (Caroline Barnes/UTK Student Journalist)
By: Caroline Barnes
April 10, 2024 – The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Dean of Students is responsible for the Basic Needs Team. The primary goal of this team is to maintain Big Orange Pantry and Smokey’s Closet, but it also provides other necessities to students, such as emergency funds.
This past fall, the Student Government Association at UTK introduced a new committee to its student services branch: the basic needs committee. The goal of this committee is to be an extra link between the basic needs team and students, and generally give extra support to the team. Committee members volunteer at Smokey’s Closet and Big Orange Pantry and come up with new ideas to promote the basic needs team.
“We’re really happy with our partnerships within student government,” said Basic Needs Team Director Blake Weiss.
Adding the basic needs committee to SGA has not come without challenges, though.
“I did not even know [SGA] had a Basic Needs Committee,” said Basic Needs Team volunteer Blake Pinchback.
“There’s a lot of navigating that goes into adding a new committee. What are the roles and responsibilities of a student government committee versus a formal office that we run and how can we work together?” said Weiss.
“This year took a lot of trial and error. Next year, we definitely need to communicate more within our committee and also reach out to Blake more,” said SGA’s Basic Needs Committee Chair Amy Phan.
Regardless of some communication issues and questions regarding each organization’s roles and responsibilities, each party is excited about the future of basic needs.
“The basic needs committee is a really promising opportunity for us,” said Weiss.