Our colleague with the shuttle bus problem got me thinking about my first shuttle bus experience from last year. Our college was in a financial crisis and the parking prices went through the roof. Many of us younger faculty took advantage of the very inexpensive "shuttle pass." The first day we parked in the remote lot we were horrified when a dingy "Ramada Hotel" bus arrived for us. It was in terrible shape, though the driver in those first weeks was a decent fellow. The bus remained emblazoned with the Ramada Hotel signage for a few weeks, but then one day in October the bus arrived with a new sign and driver. Ramada had been crudely painted over with some kind of white primer, and the words "CAMPUS SUTTLE" had been stenciled in with flat black paint. Worse than that, our driver was a young woman who clearly thought that time was of the essence. She raced that bus in and around campus in unchecked glee, swiping curbs, forcing pedestrians back onto sidewalks, and hurling us all over the campus speedbumps like she was trying to jump a line of barrels. It got the heart going, I must say. But by November we'd all stopped the experiment. One of us with a minivan started shuttling us in herself, and we never had to ride with Speedbump Sally again.
- Beat admin at their own game. If it was me, I would register for a class, get whatever f'ing parking pass students have and then flaunt it all semester. Drop the class at the last possible minute and keep the preferred parking. I did exactly that a few years ago.
- This is a college that is about to find out what it's like not to have a single adjunct sign up to teach. As it is, I skid into the parking place(for faculty, of course), and take the stairs two at a time to get to class comfortably 5-10 minutes (o luxury) before the hordes. No way in hell would any of the other adjuncts I know put up with that ridiculously named"Students First" policy--most ESPECIALLY if the board has their own parking places. WTF!
