University of Memphis
A master plan shows the proposed future of the University of Memphis campus.
State lawmakers are headed to Knoxville to get a front-line look at how Governor Bill Haslam’s proposal to outsource the operations of many state buildings could affect employees at the University of Tennessee.
Haslam issued a request for information back in August to see if a company could provide the management of state-owned facilities including state universities, state parks, corrections facilities, and National Guard Armories.
In Memphis, the plan could affect jobs at the University of Memphis, Southwest Tennessee Community College, and Tennessee College of Applied Technology. Also, it could affect jobs at the Memphis Air National Guard Base, the Millington National Guard Armory, T.O. Fuller State Park, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, and more.
Memphis Senator Lee Harris will lead the trip to Knoxville to hear from campus employees, students, and faculty about “the potential impacts that layoffs and outsourcing will have on their families and campus life.”
“Too often we operate in a bubble and over-rely on consultants,” Harris said in a statement. “We make decisions in Nashville without taking the time to listen to Tennesseans and try to understand the impacts on those Tennesseans.
“If we’re going to turn over taxpayer properties to private companies or even discuss the idea, the first order of business is to get out of Nashville and visit some of these properties and talk to the people who know a thing or two about what’s going on.”
No solid timeline has yet been established to implement Haslam’s proposal.
