Thoma Staff
Perhaps you have heard about the new service on campus known as “The Spartan Van”? While still in its beta phase, the transportation service offers students the opportunity to safely receive a ride to many popular parts of Rockland County!
Getting off campus and attending events is a great way to explore the community around you while meeting new friends. Student activities extend beyond the campus, and off campus participation broadens your options when it comes to spending your time. Especially now, with the warmer days ahead, a trip to the Shops at Nanuet or time spent at the Piermont Pier can provide wonderful memories to wrap up the the school year.
Head of Student Activities, Dave Eng, says, “Spartan Vans is a program that has been in the planning stages for a long time. Student Development is glad to make the Spartan Vans a part of our weekend programming by allowing our students to get off campus and explore attractions that Rockland County has to offer including Piermont, the Palisades Mall, and the Shops at Nanuet.”
The best part about the program is that it helps students gain easy access to the essentials. Being away from home, students may not have access to pharmacies, grocery stores, or specialty stores. this can be extremely inconvenient. Semesters are long and a variety of needs may pop up along the way. Students have the piece of mind that no matter the need, they have access to it provided by the resources at their school.
Vice President of Student Development, Kirk Manning, says, “The Spartan Van program is an experiment that we are running for the month of April, to gauge student interest in this service. I am excited because I believe that this program–combined with our numerous Student Activity trips into NYC–truly extends the campus, both locally and regionally. It provides great access for our students to all that both New York City and Rockland County have to offer. Spartan Vans will enable students to easily access major local shopping and entertainment venues (Palisades Mall and the Shops as Nanuet). The service will also be there for students who just need a prescription at CVS, groceries from Stop & Shop or a cup of coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts. I hope that students will enjoy this new program and let us know how much they like it as we move forward with our planning. All comments and suggestions are most welcome!”
Campus safety is extremely important, and the Spartan Van service will help keep students safe while transporting from campus to off campus areas and back. Students can avoid walking in bad weather, crossing busy intersections, and relying on public transportation busses to get to their destinations. Students will feel more secure in their travels which will lead them to venturing off campus to explore their community more often.
Director of Campus Security, Jim Nawoichyk, says, ” Though the Spartan Shuttle Service started out as a way to provide our students with greater access to places in Rockland County for fun as well as necessities it really has an impact on Campus Safety as well. The driver’s are hired through a screening process conducted by myself and the Human Resources Department. They have all been people with some tie to the college. After screening they are taken out in the van and they demonstrate their driving and ability to follow the route. One of the things I like as a by-product is our students now have the ability to get to places such as the Sparkill Square, Stop and Shop and Orangeburg Shopping Center without having to walk along busy roads such as Rt 340, Rt 303 and Orangeburg Road. I hope that all students, residents and commuters, make use of this new endeavor. I am looking forward to seeing the results of our pilot program and hopefully continuing in the fall.”
Alumnae ’08 and Spartan Van driver, Danielle Miller writes, “Wish that the had this when she was around 2004-2008. Would have helped getting to mall especially does those without cars…Helps out with daily errands.
Down the line, we’re hoping to add taxi services for bars. If any man can Jim can.”
Want to learn more? Check out scheduling information and a full list of stops here:
http://www.stac.edu/student-life/campus-safety-security/spartan-vans
The Thoma 