Montreal Gazette - University commuters find there's never enough time

When Dollard des Ormeaux resident Melanie Crestol was accepted into the pre-law program at McGill University straight out of CEGEP, it was a huge achievement. She was able to skip three years of undergraduate studies and march right into one of the most elite programs in the country. When she started law school last September, she discovered one major hitch to being in such a demanding program: commuting.

As Linda Starkey, the associate dean of students at McGill, says: “It’s hard to become engaged in activities here when you’re still playing on the same soccer team in your community.”

What are universities doing to help the huge number of commuter students benefit the most from their university experience? To some degree, the students have to help themselves.

“A commuter student needs to be more purposeful,” said Jana Luker, director of services for students at McGill. Lucy Fromowitz, assistant vice-president of student life at the University of Toronto, agreed that commuters “have to take more initiative.”

“For all students, involvement and engagement is key,” said Luker. “You don’t want students to be isolated. You need to feel connected to get more out of university.”

Ian Simmie, director of McGill’s student leadership initiatives, said it’s definitely a bigger challenge to engage commuter students. “A lot of institutions are grappling with this question,” he said.

“We recognize it as an issue of student success,” said Luker. “How are we supporting the group that has to go home at 6 p. m.?”