The International Honors Program for Community Colleges, Phi Theta Kappa PTK Honors Society, is conducting a survey to assist the large homeless population at Mt. SAC.
PTK is an active program at Mt. SAC that requires official members to obtain a 3.4 cumulative grade point average and 12 transferable units before applying. Members must pay a $85 membership fee, but do not have to pay the fee if they simply want to be a part of their club events.
“PTK has really let me grow as both a student and a leader,” Iggy Ylo, 20, former PTK president, said. “Without my involvement in PTK, I would not be the same person that I am today, and I am very grateful for what it has done for me and for society.”
According to the Mt. SAC website, the homeless survey is open to all students through their student portal. The survey touches base on issues such as the resources needed, the public support and further analyzes the number of homeless students on campus. The data collected will help provide Mt. SAC with the needed statistics to properly address the issue and provide the proper services.
The college project inspired PTK to conduct their survey. Every chapter is required to conduct a college project. According to Ylo, this allows members of the chapter an opportunity to collaborate closely with the president of the campus and administration.
In order to create the survey, PTK met with Dean of Student Services Koji Uesugi, who is also the co-chair of the Homelessness and Basic Resources Committee.
Ylo said that one of the biggest challenges about conducting the survey was actually creating the survey. A lot of communication was needed between PTK and the Homelessness and Basic Resources Committee.
Ylo said that it became difficult to accommodate all of their interests in one survey because different groups within the committee wanted to focus on various issues. He also said that the second biggest challenge is getting enough students to take the survey.
If there are not enough students that take the survey, then the data collected does not adequately represent the homeless population at Mt. SAC. PTK is aiming for at least 500 surveys to be conducted. As of now, they only have 457.
Ylo said he hopes that the Homelessness and Basic Resources Committee can utilize this survey to its full potential and possibly create a program or service that caters to homeless students. Ylo added that he never truly realized the seriousness of the homeless issue because you simply never know who is homeless.
“It’s a real issue that is present that needs to be solved.” Ylo said. “Through our survey, it gives those homeless students a voice about their experiences and gives us an opportunity to truly help them.”
The last day to fill out the survey is Friday, April 20. PTK meets every Wednesday from 3-4 pm in Building 26A Room 2891.