Staffing shortage leads to limited services on campus
Staffing shortages due to illness limits busing hours between St. John's and St. Ben's. The administration hopes that this is a temporary adaptation to the schedule.
As a lack of workers continues to disrupt businesses across the nation, CSB/SJU is no exception. The Link bus system, used to transport students between campuses, had its running hours shortened starting Jan. 12.
The last bus from CSB now leaves at 9:30 p.m., while the last bus from SJU leaves at 9:45 p.m. A 10:15 p.m. bus also runs from SJU to CSB following 9 p.m. Sunday night mass. With four of the 11 usual bus drivers falling ill early in the semester, the administration had no choice but to limit hours.
“We’ve been thin-staffed all year long,” said Mary Geller, CSB vice president of student development. “We don’t have a driver to spare, so when a driver gets sick, there’s nobody to step up and take their shift.”
While Geller said she hopes that a regular schedule, with the last bus leaving CSB at midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends and leaving SJU at 12:15 a.m. on weeknights and 2:15 a.m. on weekends, will return as soon as possible, it is unclear exactly when that will be. Both Geller and CSB Director of Facilities Ryan Gideon indicated that they hope to have an update by the end of this week.
According to Gideon, the schools would ideally have 13 available bus drivers to transport students between campuses. He also stated that a shortage of bus drivers has not been an issue in the past. “We’re doing everything we possibly can to adapt the schedule with the people that we have, whether it’s in transportation or dining or anywhere else,” Gideon said. “We’re just trying to make do as best we can.”
The number of hours drivers can work in a week is limited by Minnesota law, so drivers temporarily working extra shifts was never a possible solution.
The schools also reached out to local bus companies Trobec’s and Voigt’s to see if they could provide additional drivers, but both businesses are facing similar staffing issues.
Another potential last-ditch solution raised by some was to bring back student bus drivers, something that was discontinued years ago due to insurance and liability issues. However, even if the schools chose to reopen the job to students, their training would not be completed before the end of the school year.
“We meet basically every morning to monitor the situation of where we’re at with drivers and driver availability,” Gideon said. “We’re hoping that we’re going to be able to restore our schedule back to what it was last semester as soon as possible.”
While the 9:30 p.m and 9:45 p.m final bus times allow students to return to their home campus after night classes, for many, the buses have more use than just getting to class.
“I understand completely why they’re doing this. It’s no surprise; we’re experiencing the same thing that businesses everywhere are,” CSB sophomore Gen Woods said. “But the Link brings the campuses together, and [the new schedule] makes it feel more like two separate schools than one.”
For Geller, things like enabling students to attend that evening mass motivate her desire for a return to a normal schedule.
“I think our students do better when all of our services are up and in full operation,” Geller said. “When we can have our programming and we can have our bus scene and we can have our food service, people have more options and opportunities, and that’s exactly what we want to provide.”
