Have you ever had the feeling of being “trapped” on campus for hours upon hours while waiting between classes? You don’t want to leave because you’ll lose your parking space, but after a while you just can’t study anymore.
This is the life of a commuter student.
With no dorm room to retreat to, students can turn to the Office of Commuter Life and Co-Circular Programs to find out what USM offers to its commuters.
This Thursday the office will host Commuter Appreciation Day to celebrate the commuter population and promote the services they provide. Activities are planned for the entire day and are designed to get students to interact with other students, faculty and commuter life staff. There will be information tables displaying commuter services and a free “Lite Bite” snack from 2:30 until 4:30 p.m. Diagrams of the new parking garage and Bio-research center will also be on display to give students a glimpse of up-coming changes planned for the end of this semester.
The event is designed to “draw students into campus life and show them what the campus has to offer,” said Cathy Wright, administrative assistant of Commuter Life and Co-curricular Programs.
Throughout the day Portland bookstore will give a 25 percent discount for selected items, and ARAMARK will sell any size fountain drink or coffee for 89 cents in recognition of the commuter students. To take advantage of the Commuter Day specials, students can find tickets for the event tacked to boards in Luther Bonny lobby or Payson Smith lobbies or the Woodbury Campus Center information window. There will also be drawings for gift certificates to Wash Tub II, The Great Lost Bear and Bleachers, to name a few.
Commuter Appreciation Day could draw a big crowd, considering USM is mostly a commuter University. This year’s enrollment shows 9,389 students are commuters out of 10,966 total. That means 86 percent of the population is commuters.
The Office of Commuter Life and Co-curricular Programs recognizes the need for commuter programs in a university with such an overwhelming majority of commuters.
Helen Gorgas-Goulding is the director and guiding force behind the Office of Commuter Life and Co-curricular Programs. She sees a need for commuter support and thus, Commuter Appreciation Day.
Gorgas-Goulding said she loves her job. As director she to talks to students all day long.
“I really love interacting with students!” Gorgas-Goulding said.
Her office is divided into two parts. Commuter life works to provide commuters with valuable services such as photocopies, information about lockers, a place to purchase stamps, and information including off-campus housing listings, bus maps and local business listings.
“Commuter Life is here to help commuter students connect with the institution. Every time we do a program, we are thinking about the commuter not being able to be on campus as much,” Gorgas-Goulding said,
The other aspect of Gorgas-Goulding’s office, co-curricular programs, is meant for all students but she says that it ends up “hitting commuter students more.” Sullivan Gym has recreation programs and management that are part of the co-curricular office. Other examples are the Women’s Resource Center and the Student Involvement Center.
“Students give me the hex sign when they see me approaching them sometimes because they know I’ll ask them to get involved,” Gorgas-Goulding said. “But, that’s what the Commuter Life and Co-curricular Programs Office is here for. We’re making a difference in commuters lives everyday.”
Contributing Writer Natalie Frye can be contacted at: [email protected]