By Katelin Brooks
Contributing Writer
At St. Bonaventure University, the education program provides its students with great opportunities. I’m one of those students, and I couldn’t be happier with the program, except for one aspect: transportation isn’t provided for required academic work. The university will run into problems with transportation if this concern is not addressed.
The first issue that arises from transportation in the education department is liability. As education majors, students are required to complete observation hours for teachers, which are called placements.
Although they don’t force students to drive other students to placements, the department pairs people up with others who have vehicles and sends an email out to the students implying that we should all car pool. My question to the university is who is responsible if someone gets in an accident?
Second, if observations (commuting off-campus) are a mandatory requirement for the course, transportation should be provided.
Dr. Nancy Casey, chair of the education department, said if transportation were to be provided, the school would have to add a fee to tuition.
Even if a small fee is added, some overwhelmed students without transportation will have peace of mind. The university should provide an optional fee if the student needs transportation.
Another problem with the transportation requirement is when I am “subtly” volunteered to drive students whom I don’t know, I don’t get reimbursed.
I realize students don’t have a lot of money, and when a free ride is offered, especially when it is so kindly recommended by the university, students take the opportunity.
So, if I am an implied driver for the university, why am I not getting reimbursed in some way?
If this concern isn’t addressed, the education department should look into providing a form that states liability issues and alternate forms of transportation for students, such as taxi and bus services.
If the education department is going to continue with their implied volunteer driver service, they should remind the students that require transportation to pitch in a little money for gas funds because this is not the driver’s responsibility.
Students might find it difficult to say no to freshmen who don’t own cars, even if it leads to parking violations. I received multiple parking tickets because I was taking a student I didn’t know to their required academic work.
I was not familiar with leaving campus at lunchtime, and was not aware of how few parking spots were available at this busy time of the day. I ended up parking in unauthorized spots for students, which I wasn’t aware of. I contested my tickets to safety and security services and to explain my situation. In short, the parking tickets were charged to my student account.
I don’t mind being a Good Samaritan, but if the university punishes me for driving other students to their placements purely because I am practicing the Franciscan ways they advocate, this is when there should be change.
If student athletes get their transportation covered, students with coursework requiring transportation should be provided. The university is first and foremost an academic institution; we should take care of our hardworking students.
Education instructors teach us to problem-solve and be creative.
This is a chance for our instructors to practice what they preach for the students at St. Bonaventure.
This is a chance for them to come up with a solution for transportation requirements, even it is as simple as elaborating more on the liability issues that could be confronted by students.
