The Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) partnered with the Connell School of Nursing to provide T passes for nursing students traveling to their clinicals. The new initiative is completely student-run and does not come from the administration of CSON.
UGBC contributed $3,500 to the initiative, which is still in its pilot stage.
Russell Simons, UGBC president and MCAS ’17, acknowledged that the funding will not cover the entirety of travel costs for every nursing student. Simons said that the pilot program, rather, is meant to assess the feasibility of the entire structure of the initiative. UGBC and the Connell School of Nursing will assess the processes of ordering and distributing the T passes.
In past years, students have raised concerns that the University does not cover travel costs for clinicals, Simons said. Now, there is something tangible for students to give feedback on.
Simons hopes the initiative will ease the burden of unexpected travel costs for students.
He hopes that when the trial period is over, there will be a follow-up survey that will assess the implementation of the program and give administrators a data set to make funding decisions going forward.
CSON students will be notified of the new T passes in the upcoming month.
This initiative was originally a part of Simons and Meredith McCaffrey’s, executive vice president and MCAS ’17, campaign platform when running for their positions in May. Their platform noted that travel costs are often an overlooked expense at BC. According to their platform, Simons and McCaffrey also hope to subsidize travel for education students.
“We saw this initiative as a first step in what will be a larger commitment to working with students in the school of nursing to meet financial needs,” Simons said.
Featured Image by Francisco Ruela / Heights Editor
