Amaya Morales
Managing Editor
Returning to campus opens up a lot of questions for students, especially commuters. With the Metro campus composed of mostly commuters, many students are left wondering where they will go between classes and how the university will accommodate them.
President Christopher Capuano sent out an email on July 20 with a detailed Reopening Plan for the FDU New Jersey campuses. You can read about it here.
Angelo Carfagna, the assistant vice president of communications, confirmed to The Equinox that the nearly “4,000 commuter students” at the Metropolitan campus will be majorly affected by the new changes.
Many of the commuters spend long days on campus and normally are seen in common spaces such as the Fitness Center, Riverside Cafe and the library.
In a section of the PDF labeled Commuter Services, FDU plans to “designate spaces on each campus for the use of commuter students, and will ensure that such spaces are configured and furnished in ways that reinforce required social distancing.”
The designated commuter spaces will have posted capacity limits, accessible WiFi and hand-sanitizing stations, the documents states.
The school will provide WiFi hotspots in the commuter parking lots and in outdoor spaces “to allow students to access academic resources, attend virtual classes, and utilize student services remotely,” the document reads.
Jade Silva, a senior English major who commutes from Rochelle Park, said via text.
“Honestly, I’m very apprehensive towards all of it. I was disappointed reading through their plans… there’s very little to be said for commuters. My biggest concern is what spaces will be utilized for commuter students.”
Both campuses will also provide commuter dining locations that follow CDC and state guidelines. The reopening document also states that meal plans will be modified to offer “enhanced value to mandatory meal plan holders as well as the creation of voluntary commuter meal plans.”
Though the meal plans are accommodating for commuter students, the main concern for students remains to be the commuter spaces.
Silva added, “I know they said outside spaces will be open but… it almost feels as though FDU is kinda like whatever towards the commuter students despite the fact that we make up a larger percentage of the Metro campus.”
Senior Communications major Nicole Fuchs, who commutes to campus from Bergenfield, N.J., is not as concerned about the plan.
“For the most part, I can’t complain because I usually don’t stay on campus when I am out of class because of work,” Fuchs said via text to the Equinox.
She added, “I do definitely want actual plans on how the classrooms are going to work. I also think having people monitor the entries of the building takes temps would be nice (for extra caution) because I’m not going to travel to campus risking it if others can’t help us avoid the risk.”
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Art by Amaya Morales
