Commuter Students Get Connected

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas has nearly 18,000 students, and the majority of them live off campus. Off Campus Connections at the university is working hard to keep those students connected. Who are these undergraduate commuter students? Off Campus Connections conducted a survey in October and got a good snapshot of the average commuter student at the University of Arkansas.

Formerly the Office of Non-Traditional and Commuter Students, Off Campus Connections changed its name this month to better reflect how the office serves students.

“The new name represents a new and welcoming beginning,” said Sylvia Scott, director of Off Campus Connections. “We hope to offer a campus connection for each off-campus student who needs assistance to be a successful student. We try to provide helpful resources and referrals to those who may not have another meaningful connection outside of the classroom. Each off-campus student is automatically subscribed to a listserv; they receive a monthly newsletter and weekly announcements via e-mail.”

In 2006, Off Campus Connections partnered with University Housing to create the off-campus housing database. Students and prospective students who are not required to live on campus can conduct free electronic searches for local housing to meet their budget and amenity requirements at http://www.offcampushousing.uark.edu. The site has a message board if a student is looking for a roommate to share the expenses of off-campus living. Students can also use the message board to post items for sale or buy books or furniture. During its first nine months, the site has been extremely successful, receiving more than 367,000 site hits from 2,588 registered users looking for local housing. This is just one way Off Campus Connections is helping students.

“They treat you like family. Susan Stiers (assistant director of the organization) and Sylvia work very hard to make non-traditional and commuter students feel like part of the university. Their office is small, but it has a big voice and a big heart,” said Sharon Linder, who received her bachelor’s degree this past May, and is currently a graduate student. “I still venture into their offices even now for an uplifting gab session about how classes and life are going.”

The off-campus population is more than 10,000 students. This includes first-semester freshman students living at home with family, adult students, transfer students and upperclassmen who live off campus. Students today are busier than ever. They often need someone to assist them when they run into a problem area and don’t know where to turn, Stiers said.

“The university relies heavily on the local Northwest Arkansas community to help serve the needs of our students living off campus. These students may spend a significant amount of time on campus, but they also live, shop and often work in our community,” Scott said. “Our staff hopes to partner with the community to help build bridges and remove obstacles that may impede a students’ academic and life success. We want our students to come to school, graduate with a degree, and become contributing members of our local, state, national and international communities.”

So who is this undergraduate commuter student? The survey, which was conducted in October, shows the following trends:

Seventy-four percent of respondents were juniors and seniors, aged 18-24, who were single; 15 percent of respondents were married; 12 to 18 percent of respondents had dependents.

Sixteen percent of commuters travel 20 miles or more to campus; only 3 percent carpool to campus; 21 percent walk or use Razorback Transit; 32 percent drive and park.

Seventy-three percent of respondents are on campus 5 or more days per week and 65 percent take classes between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Seventy-five percent of commuters work, with 58 percent of them working off campus versus on campus.

Sixty-two percent of commuters work more than 15 hours per week, with 38 percent working more than 20 hours and 13 percent working 40 hours per week.

Sixty-eight percent highlight parking as a concern; 58 percent cite parking as a reason they do not remain on or return to campus.

Fifty-three percent highlight the balance of school, work and family as a concern.

Thirty-four percent highlight campus involvement as a concern; 25 percent highlight feeling connected to the campus community as a concern.

Thirty-two percent highlight financial aid or scholarship opportunities as a concern.

Eleven percent highlight a need for evening and/or weekend classes.

Six percent highlight child care as a concern.

For more information about Off Campus Connections visit http://uark.edu/occ.