Worker shortages limit services in dining areas, on Link buses

Transportation provided by the Link bus between the two campuses is a crucial element of healthy collaboration in the schools’ partnership. During the day, Bennies and Johnnies ride to attend class and access academic resources. On the evenings and weekends, students utilize the Link to attend extracurricular events or socialize with friends.

During this academic year, however, the transportation department has been struggling to fill shifts for bus drivers and security, making it difficult to provide this resource. The shortage has been particularly straining during the evening and weekend shifts.

“As a residential campus, we know that the student experience is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means we do need to make sure there’s transportation and that’s a safe and reliable way to move from one campus to the other,” said Mike Connolly, SJU vice president of student development.

According to Connolly, the cause of this issue is complex. One factor is that the hiring market in general has been challenged around the country. The resulting changes across many industries have been noticeable to Americans since the start of the pandemic.

Bus security monitors, who are hired to assist the drivers in ensuring the safety of all passengers, have been in particularly short supply. Typically, the campus transportation department outsources these employees to an outside company, but due to illness and the broader worker shortage, this company has been unable to provide sufficient monitors. Drivers are uncomfortable working without a monitor present, so Jeff Glover, assistant dean of students, has developed an alternative plan.

Glover said that the administration has avoided using student safety monitors in the past, but because of limited options, faculty residents and resident attendants have been hired to ride the evening buses. This decision was made to accommodate the immediate need to keep buses operating on evenings when outside monitors were unavailable. For a more long-term solution, the administration has been exploring new options which may continue involving student monitors.

“We believe it’s possible [to hire students] with the right screening and… establish really good initial training as well as ongoing training and support,” Glover said via email.

He said they are hoping to have one security professional partnered with two student monitors. The security professional would be present in case of high-conflict incidents, but the student team would be responsible for noticing when a student is uncomfortable or sick, redirecting unacceptable behavior to fun and safe alternatives and identifying students to be addressed later within the conduct system, if severe behavior occurs. Student monitors would receive training on how to address their peers in a non-confrontational manner. They would be marked as an employee by a uniform or some other visible identification.

The late hours of the roles for bus drivers and monitors, especially on the 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. shifts, make the positions less appealing. Students exhibiting behavior such as loud singing and shouting, offensive or inappropriate language or getting sick on the ride also makes these positions less desirable.

If staffing on the buses continues to decrease, the available Link hours may decrease, according to an email sent on Oct. 13 from Connolly and CSB Vice President for Student Development Mary Geller.

“Current student behavior means we need to provide monitors on the buses to ensure that the driver can safely operate the bus…While we have been able to keep the buses running thus far, we are so thinly staffed that if we lose a driver for any reason, we may have to cut back on late-night weekend bussing hours,” the email said.

The bus allows students to attend fine arts and sporting events, extracurricular activities, club meetings, employment positions, health appointments, errands or gatherings with classmates and friends. Reductions would be highly inconvenient for students who rely on the bus for transportation, according to CSB sophomore Katherine Jasinski and SJU senior Hunter Westman.

“When they reduce the hours it’s so much pressure on you. If you’re doing homework or trying to just relax with people, you don’t want to miss that last bus,” Jasinski said.

This creates a barrier to in-person events which is frustrating to many students, especially during the current transition period from total isolation during the pandemic. Access to resources and events on both campuses has been a reexamined priority for many Bennies and Johnnies.

“I feel like friendships and being in person with people…would really decline amongst students [if they didn’t] have a way to travel back and forth,” Jasinski said.

The administration also notes the importance of the buses. Connolly said they have seen significant increases in involvement in clubs and activities, and incredibly high attendance at evening and weekend programming.

“This tells me that Bennies and Johnnies really want to be a part of community and that…is such an integral part of why people want to be here. I think that the Link bus helps to provide, or enhance, the community on both campuses,” he said.

In order to engage in these opportunities, students need not only consistent transportation but also guaranteed safety as well. Westman said that the Link bus discourages students from driving while intoxicated and ensures that students remember to be back at their home campus by a specific time.

“While the late weekend buses were never intended to be sober cabs, we recognize it’s one way to ensure people get home safe after drinking,” Glover said via email. “But it can be frustrating when it seems we’re also enabling some students’ irresponsible drinking.”

To ensure the Link remains a safe and consistent resource for students, the administrators stated the importance of making safe and responsible decisions in the evenings and on the bus ride.

“Be responsible. Take care of one another. Act in a way that portrays you as the best person that you can be,” Connolly said. “Safety cannot be something that we take for granted. We are all responsible for the safety here.”

Jasinski and Westman expressed a hope that their peers can have fun on the weekend while still considering how their actions affect other riders and staff on the bus.

“Be considerate that it’s the middle of the night. They come in to work to bus us around, so be respectful of that,” Jasinski said. “If they tell you to do something, just be respectful for the 10 minute ride.”