A proposed shared bike/scooter program at BGSU – which has been previously discussed by Undergraduate Student Government– could be a costless partnership for the university, as detailed during Monday’s USG meeting.
The recommendation could employ a shared program similar to the one at the University of Toledo. The proposed vendor to run this service is called Zagster – in partnership with Spin Scooters – which has operations across the country.
The recommendation would not come at any cost to BGSU and could provide the university profit if approved by Zagster.
According to Jenna Dunn, who proposed the partnership, it caught the interest of local sustainability departments as it will provide affordable eco-friendly options to students at BGSU.
“When we talked to the director of the Office of Sustainability, he had a very positive mindset towards the bikeshare options,” Dunn said.
Sen. Muhammed Syed brought up questions about the proposed partnership, asking who will provide the required maintenance for the scooters and bikes on campus. Dunn said that Zagster will bear all costs and logistics related to the program if it were to launch at BGSU.
“Zagster will bring in and train employees to work and collect and charge the scooters in the evening, the employees will really be in charge of that,” Dunn said.
Sen. Naveen Kumar said that since the scooters can be driven around, some may be lost, and he questioned the liabilities that may come to those using them on campus.
“Students can take the scooters to Walmart or elsewhere, what happens if they get stolen, who will be liable?” Kumar said.
Dunn responded that if any devices are stolen, Zagster will be liable to cover the loss of devices.
Open Forum: Off-Campus Student Services
Speaking at the assembly was Lakeshia Dowlen, the Dean of Students from the Off-Campus Student Services department. Dowlen explained the services that her department provides to students, such as:
- Finding students off-campus housing.
- Providing a guide to students for renting in Bowling Green.
- A commuter mentor program.The FLOC Program, which stands for The Falcons Living: Off Campus.
- The Hazel H. Smith Scholarship, a $750 scholarship that is provided to full-time commuter students who qualify.
Off-Campus Student Services is trying to develop the department through feedback from BGSU students who rent off campus.
“We borrowed this initiative from the Ohio State University, which has a larger population of off campus students, they have a publication of a survey of students about their living situations, so we did a scale of that but every year we try to tweak it,” Dowlen said.
Other business
Vice President Summer McVicker met with the the Board of Trustees, giving them updates on the ongoing duties of USG as well as campus-related information. Slated for the fall of 2020, a plan has been in place to renovate the Starbucks in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.
During a recent Faculty Senate meeting, Sen. Alexander Charlotte reported that the proposed plus and minus grading did not pass, failing to reach a two thirds majority by “a wide margin.”
It has been announced that Dec. 2 will be the last USG meeting of the semester.
