The commuter factor
Finding a niche away from home
December 5, 2007
Todd Foley
[Photos: Austin Jean]
It’s Wednesday night. Dan Peters has managed to find time in his schedule to attend intramural volleyball. He hasn’t been able to be as involved as he was last year, given his current commitments to leading a men’s discipleship group, participating in the International Social Justice Club and helping train the women’s volleyball team. He wishes he had a dorm room to find rest in between his activities.
But Peters, a third-year psychology major, has no room on campus. He has to travel back to Walnut Grove to find that room. As a commuter, his involvement in activities is what keeps him connected to campus life.
Currently 64.5 per cent of the undergraduate population, commuters are and always bave been a vital presence on the campus of Trinity Western University. They are involved in ministries, TWUSA, student initiatives, and, of course, the collegium projects.
But on a campus that seems sometimes predisposed to residents, what is the commuters’ place on campus? What do they take ownership of? And does being a commuter limit their involvement?
These questions, among others, have been the conversation among Community Life and were addressed this semester through a survey project. 406 of the 1312 commuters responded, and the data is currently being analyzed by Community Life.
“[The goal of the survey was] to find out more about the commuter students that I’m mandated to serve, with particular interest in their perceptions of the Marlie Snyder Collegia progam,” said Glenn Hansen of Community Life. “There’s lots of data, so now the task is to interpret it carefully,” he added.
Collegiums have been considered the status quo as to commuter whereabouts, but the survey findings show otherwise. Of the 406 students surveyed, 273 were not collegium members. Of that figure, 135 were seniors. Even though those 135 were in their final year at TWU, there still is a sense of participating within the university atmosphere. “They still have something to say,” said Hansen.
20 per cent of those surveyed said that class schedules did not allow enough opportunity to become an active member of the collegiums, while 64.8 per cent cited the $75 per semester fee as the reason for not joining.
“I’ve always taken the position that $75 per semester is not a lot to pay for all the benefits [of the collegium],” said Hansen. “We want to invite our students to what remains a very cutting-edge program,” he said, adding that the project has received national attention from other universities including Biola, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, Azuza Pacific and University of Winnipeg.
On a local level, there was little to no negative feedback in the survey of the residents’ use of the collegium, according to Hansen. Last year, residents were given free membership to the West Coast Collegium every evening between 8 pm and midnight, except for Wednesday nights.
Jenna Andrews, a third-year communications major and two-time Collegium Assistant (CA), noticed otherwise. “As a CA, [the resident collegium] was hard to accept. What sparked the most frustration is that [residents] don’t pay for [membership],” she said.
The numbers alone show that commuter involvement does not have to include a membership with the collegium. According to the survey, 25 per cent of the 273 non-collegium commuters are connected elsewhere on campus. Peters falls into that category.
“I found that the collegium was too good at what it did. I never got any work done because there were too many conversations to be had and people to meet,” he said.
Andrews notices the same perception of the collegiums. She has commuted for three years and has worked as a Collegium Assistant for the past two. For students who come to do their school work, she said, the collegium can become more of a distraction than a work place.
“One guy I talked to pegged [the collegium] as an ‘elitist club,’” said Andrews, referring to the membership cost being a determinant against joining. Yet after some persuasion from Andrews, he has since joined the collegium.
As part of the 25 per cent of non-collegium members, Peters found student leadership to be an outlet for staying connected. “[Student Leadership Orientation] week really connected me with a lot of people,” he said, adding that his discipleship position “definitely keeps me connected with the guys that are in my d-group, as well as the other leaders because we have [regular] meetings with all the discipleship leaders.”
For the upcoming spring semester, however, Peters plans to move into dorms as part of his next leadership role. “I’m hoping to be an RA next year. I’ve never lived in residence here, so [I want] to get a feel for that. I certainly think it will be good so I won’t have to worry about driving home every night and coming back,” he said. “My [campus] involvement will go up even more so, which is kind of what I’m looking forward to.”
So what does Peters plan to do with his time at TWU? Stay involved.
“It’s great to be involved while I’m here,” he said, “especially because college is just a passing time, so it feels like while I’m here, I’ll take advantage of it.”
Now you go...
Got something to say?