Brooke Kelly
Managing Editor
Out of the approximate student population of 8,500 at Jackson State University, 5,000 of those students are commuters.
Unlike those who stay on campus, commuters can’t roll out of bed and get to class in less than five minutes or be in walking distance to all events that take place on campus. Sometimes events on campus pass without commuter students ever even knowing about them.
The Commuter Program, in its first year of existence, is a new resource which offers students assistance, though many commuters don’t know about it.
Approximately 150 students are on the email blast that Cathy Patterson, assistant director of community service at the Center for Service and Community Engaged Learning, sends out to commuter students who would li
ke to get information on what is happening on campus.
On Monday and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Patterson can be found at the Jackson Medical Mall Seminar Room 123 assisting commuter students.
“They want to know what’s going on, but many out here [at the Medical Mall] have jobs and families. They have a serious mission, and they tend to spend time on that,” said Patterson.
Working with the Office of Student Life, she helps find information and resources to better the experience for commuter students.
Last semester, Patterson along with others from the Office of Student Life, held a Good Morning Tigers Program every third Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Over coffee, tea, and a snack, students had the opportunity to find out about various happenings going on at Jackson State. Low attendance for the program led to its discontinuation. Patterson believes that the time may have been inconvenient.
Staying on campus between classes, attending campus events, staying informed, and finding a balance between home, work, and school responsibilities are all ways the CSCEL recommend facing the commuter challenge, and though these tips are more easily said than done, Patterson, the CSCEL, and the Office of Student Life are ready to help commuters take on the challenge.
Since being at the Medical Mall, Patterson has had students complain to her about parking. Some students who take all or most of their classes at the Medical Mall have said they did not want to pay as much as others.
Students proposed the idea of paying for the time they were in a parking spot versus buying a decal. Patterson said she talked to the Department of Public Safety about their proposals, but at this time, public safety said their proposal wouldn’t work for various reasons, including figuring out how to determine the time the students had been parked at a certain location.
Senior mass communications major Willie Mosley, a Pelahatchie, Miss. native, believes that commuter students face various challenges. He thinks professors should understand that traffic can cause commuters to be late.
David Steurgis, a senior criminal justice major from Jackson, Miss., thinks that the three absence rule should be changed.
“We’re going to miss class more than three times a semester,” said Steurgis who recently missed a class for the third time due to a car issue.
Both Steurgis and Mosley felt that parking is an issue.
“What’s the point of buying a de
cal if you can’t park on campus?” said Mosley.
Food is also an issue for Mosley, who did not know about meal plans available for commuter students.
“It’s not really affordable to eat on campus if you don’t stay here. We don’t have enough options.”
These and other concerns are the kinds of feedback Patterson would like to get from commuter students.
To sign up for the email blast that keeps students informed about various campus events, students can email Patterson at cathy.l.patteson@jsums.edu, and to sign up for the Emergency Management Program for alerts relating to school closures etc., visit the events coordinator’s office on the 8th floor of the Administration Tower.
