Off-campus student lack representation

And are often left in the dark about on-campus events

Students living off-campus have several benefits, like not having to wake up to the excruciating sounds of construction at 7 a.m. Though 60 percent of the student population lives off-campus, where’s the motivation for them to get involved with on-campus activities? The new Harrison dining hall or renovation of residence halls arouses no excitement among off-campus students because it has nothing to do with them.

The most noticeable form of advertisement for off-campus students is the BSG sign in the mall area, but that is often not updated. Much of the information off-campus students are looking for is provided in the commuter lounge. The only question is, where is the commuter lounge? The lounge is located on the lower level of the Seymour College Union, but you would not know this unless you searched the Brockport Web site with a fine tooth comb.

The lounge is equipped with couches and chairs meant for off-campus students to get off their feet and relax. Also in the lounge, you can find the off-campus student carpooling board, upcoming events list and copies of the off-campus student e-news. Lockers are provided for off-campus students and are located next to the Commuter Student Lounge. There is also a computer lounge, which allows off-campus students to access the Internet and utilize Microsoft Office programs. Sounds great, but these services need to be advertised elsewhere on campus.

On-campus students are better informed of events, issues, clubs and programs going on throughout campus while off-campus students are left in the dark. Many fun activities are offered at The Gallery Lounge & Gameroom, such as free back massages,  paint your own pumpkins event (Wednesday Oct. 24) or the Campus Life Scavenger Hunt (Thursday Oct. 25). Unless you find the time to go on the Brockport Web site or pass by the Gameroom to see what they have posted outside the door, off-campus students would not know of these activities. There should be more advertisement throughout campus in the academic halls and more noticeable bulletin boards in the mall area.

For those students commuting from Rochester, there is the SUNY Brockport MetroCenter, which is located in downtown Rochester. This SUNY Student Resource Center provides library services, computer access, study rooms, reserve materials and telecourse tapes for all SUNY Brockport students with a Brockport ID. This is helpful to off-campus students who don’t want to commute to the Brockport campus to study or come to the library to view their telecourse material. It’s a wonderful outlet and needs to be widely advertised.

Alhough a monthly e-news letter is available to off-campus students, you must register for it and to do that, you have to search the Brockport Web site to look for off-campus services. At the beginning of the year, Campus Life could send out an e-mail geared toward off-campus students and inform them of how they can receive information on upcoming events, helpful campus information and articles.

Off-campus students are simply underrepresented. Who are the off-campus representatives and how will they speak out for an off-campus voice? Perhaps off campus representatives could pass out or e-mail surveys to off-campus students asking them what they want to know and how they feel about campus events. Off-campus students are a representation of SUNY Brockport and should be represented in return.