How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
In response to student complaints about changes to campus transportation routes E and C, NYU will yet again be modifying its bus lines. At the end of the month, Route C, which was cut at the beginning of the semester, will offer southbound morning service to students living in Stuyvesant Town. Route E will also be changed at the end of the month and will offer afternoon and night service. NYU initially modified these routes because of financial constrictions, but the university added more money to the Department of Public Safety's budget to fund the modifications to the schedules.
The WSN Editorial Board applauds NYU's continued efforts to listen to student feedback with regard to campus transportation. Huge, sweeping changes to many of the lines were initiated at the beginning of the year, all without the consultation of students. But this latest move is a visible effort that shows NYU is taking student satisfaction very seriously. We think this displays real progress in the university's decision-making policies, demonstrating that — at least in part — NYU is actually taking student response to changes into consideration.
We also appreciate the speed with which public safety has implemented these changes. Chair of the Student Senators Council Whitney Petrie said it can sometimes take entire semesters for changes like this to be applied, so we are glad to see such a speedy execution for these changes. Granted, we are nearing the end of the semester with only about a month left of classes, but it is still worth recognizing that NYU didn't wait until spring to implement these changes.
At the risk of repeating ourselves from previous editorials, we still think much needs to be done to bring student opinion into universitywide decisions. The student-faculty task forces created this year represent a huge leap in bettering that communication, but it is still far too early to tell whether these groups will be effective. E-mails sent to every student asking for feedback are also great, but until we can truly tell how much weight is given to responses, our only option is to trust the university that it is listening. If NYU wants students to fully support new initiatives and believe in them, the university must be accountable for their actions and open about discussing them.
But we digress. Enjoy your bus, Stuy Town.
