By By Laura Rodell
This fall commuters have a space on campus to call their own with the University’s creation of the Office of Commuter Students.
University President Stuart Rabinowitz and Holly Seirup, Vice President for campus life, gave the go ahead for the highly anticipated office earlier this year after office space in the Student Center became available.
“We had hoped to have a Commuting Students Office for a long time, and this year, as a result of some restructuring, Spirit Support moved into the same office as Student Activities and left a space open for a new office to operate out of,” Gina-Lyn Crance, dean of students, said
The University christened the office last Wednesday with a grand opening celebration to welcome students and acquaint them with all the office has to offer.
Located at 221 Student Center, the new office will serve as a gathering place and information center for the more than 6,000 undergraduate and graduate commuters attending the University on a full or part-time basis.
The two-fold goal of the office is to keep commuters connected with on-campus events and foster close ties within the commuter community.
“One of our most important goals is to make commuters aware that they have equal access to all activities on campus,” Arianne Romeo, director of the Office of Commuting Students, said. “We also want to provide a place where commuters can receive support and make connections with other non-residents.”
Driven by student need and the University’s desire to better serve its commuter population, the Office of Commuting Students will provide a distinct and long-anticipated niche for non-residents.
“We don’t like to differentiate between students, but different constituencies have different needs,” Seirup said. “And though all students can bring their concerns to the dean of students and related offices, [the commuter office] is a place that can coordinate information, send e-mails and letters and keep non-residents up-to-date on issues most important to them, just as Residential Life and the Office of International Students operate for their student groups.”
The office also intends to hold events and seminars during times that accommodate commuting students’ unique hours.
So far, the Office of Commuter Students has scheduled “Commuter Coffee Hour,” which will be held every other Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. in its headquarters.
On Sept. 28, the office will team up with New Student Support Services to host a program on commuters in transition during Common Hour in the Student Center game room.
Romeo will also deliver a presentation on Oct. 1, part of the University’s Family Weekend.
Nearly 100 students who attended last week’s grand opening of the office had the opportunity to judge its hospitality and helpfulness for themselves, amidst a program that included giveaways, food and mingling with representatives from 10 academic and campus life departments.
“The success of the open house was significant because we know that students who have a place that they can call their own at a university feel more comfortable,” Crance said.
The office also set up a commuter hotline, which “mimics residents’ voicemail, except that students call in for messages from the school at (516) 463-RIDE,” Romeo said.
Getting information out to commuters in a synchronized and timely fashion had been a struggle in the past, she added.
More than 100 students have joined a new Commuting Students Group that the office set up on the University Portal.
“The portal feature is one of our main lines of communication and any activity that crosses my desk will be put up there in order to connect commuters with what’s going on on-campus,” Romeo said. “We encourage all commuters to join the group and see for themselves the ways we can assist them.”
Also new this semester is a club designed to foster commuters’ social interaction and work closely with the commuter office.
The Organization of Commuter Students is actually the rebirth of a commuter club that was defunct for several years until Joe Napoli, a junior international business major and the organization’s new president, fortuitously became involved in a revival effort.
“A friend of mine wanted to restart the organization, but saw what he was up against this semester in terms of school and things and asked me if I wanted to take it on,” Napoli said. “I thought it sounded like a great opportunity and I fell in love with the idea.”
The club, currently pending Student Government Association approval and a budget, already has an eight-member executive board and a 300-member list serve.
Napoli said the club plans to hold its first meeting this week, depending on the time and day most convenient for the majority of students.
Club events are still in the planning process, but Napoli said he hopes to be able to co-sponsor activities with other clubs on campus.
“I didn’t actually do much my first year at Hofstra, but last year I got more involved and really felt like I got more out of the college experience, so I hope people take advantage of the new club and office, have a great time and just feel better about themselves,” Napoli said.
The Office of Commuting Students can be reached at (516) 463-4959 or via e-mail at [email protected].
Those interested in the Organization of Commuter Students can contact Napoli at [email protected].
Students enjoy coffee and cookies at “Commuter Coffee Hour” in the Office of Commuter Students. (Harry Tanielyan/The Chronicle)