Barnard’s Senior Experience programs could better involve those living off campus, commuter students say.
Commuter students say that they are not kept in the loop about Senior Experience, or “S | X” programming, because they do not live in Barnard housing. And they’re not entirely wrong—administrators say that while the program isn’t meant to exclude anyone, it’s specifically directed toward residential students.
Senior Experience helps seniors celebrate the end of their college careers at Barnard. The program is run by the Office of Residential Life in collaboration with Alumnae Affairs, the Barnard Senior Fund, the Office of the Dean of Studies, the Office of Career Development, the Senior Class Council, and the College Activities Office.
The residential aspect is key, however. The program is for seniors who live on campus, which technically excludes commuters for financial reasons. ResLife takes $25 from every senior’s room-and-board fee and puts it toward the cost of Senior Experience programming.
Onika Jervis, associate director of residential life and housing at Barnard, said Senior Experience is not meant to cater to the entire student body, but strictly to students residing in dorms. She noted that the program does not “ban” commuter students.
“We have been approached by commuters who have seen the Senior Experience bags and want one, or have expressed interest in a certain event, and we do provide them with a bag and permit them to go to the event,” Jervis said.
But Senior Experience programming might not be conducive to a commuter’s schedule, which may be why commuters haven’t always raised it as an issue in the past—though commuters’ advocates are trying to change that. According to Mercedes Mulford, BC ’11 and president of Skip Stop, the commuter students’ organization at Barnard, commuter students have typically been unable to participate in events past a certain time in the day.
“She [Jervis] said that, in the past, not a ton of commuters realized that they’re not really getting involved in this [Senior Experience] because the event is at night, and commuters don’t really stay that late,” Mulford said.
Mulford added that commuter students like herself were mainly upset because they assumed that they would be able to participate in the program automatically because they were seniors.
“We’re all kind of upset that it’s been a struggle for us to get involved,” she said. “Had we not done something, we wouldn’t have gotten anything.”
Janene Yazzi, BC ’11 and a commuter student, said she was disappointed that other Barnard students like her hadn’t been originally taken into consideration when developing S | X.
“It’s unfair that commuters would be excluded in any way,” she said. “We are already excluded so much. We should be informed and welcome at all events, the same ones as everyone else.”
Still, some commuters expressed ambivalence toward the program.
“I knew little about Senior Experience, or even that it was a program that was geared towards residential seniors,” said Carla Vass, BC ’11, who lives nearby but not in Barnard-owned housing. “I have seen the signs around campus, but really hadn’t looked into it further. I’m not sure what the benefits are of attending the [Senior Experience] events.”
Still, she said commuters shouldn’t have to ask to get into the programs. “I get that it’s just for residential seniors, and even if commuters can go to some events if they ask, it still is unfair. All students should be permitted,” Vass said.
Sydney Newman, BC ’11, who lives in a Barnard dorm, said that she has not attended many of the events herself, but that the residential seniors are informed about all of the events in ways that commuter students may not be.
“Commuters probably don’t go to the events, or try to, because they aren’t made aware the same way we are,” Newman said.
Mulford said that Skip Stop is working with Jervis to get commuter students involved in the future, and a compromise may be a “very, very small S | X fee added to the commuters’ bill.” The fee has not yet been determined.
“She [Jervis] has said that this would be a perfect solution from ResLife’s perspective and even commuters’,” Mulford said. “Twenty-five dollars or so—the exact number has not been worked out—is reasonable for commuters, I think, to get involved.”
Commuters would still need to work out the fee with the Dean of Studies and Bursar’s Office, she added.
Jervis said that commuter students must express interest and actively participate in events if they are interested in the program.
“I cannot stress enough to commuters that if they want to go to an event, to just go,” Jervis said. “The best way to get involved if you hear about an event is just to go.”
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