The Off-Campus Student Organization (OCSO) held a locker drive in the Brower Student Center on Tuesday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 9.
The locker drive is an attempt to help off-campus students whose daily schedules are complicated by the construction near commuter Lots 6 and 6B, Dhruvin Patel, vice president of Information Technology for OCSO, said.
"Many commuter students keep their books in their cars," said Patel. "With the construction going on, it's harder to go back and forth during the day. The lockers will give them a place to keep books."
According to Melissa Lutak, senior and vice president of Recruitment and Retention for OCSO, during the drive an off-campus student walked by with her hands full of books. "She saw the table, dropped her stuff, and ran over to sign up," Lutak said. "If we had a camera there, she would be the recruiting poster for OCSO."
Despite the publication of the drive in "This Week @ TCNJ" and a Signal ad, some off-campus students didn't know of the lockers in Green Hall.
OCSO decided to hold the locker drive after noticing a set of lockers on the first and second floor of Green Hall without locks, Patel said. OCSO found that only a small number of faculty and staff use the lockers. A call to Facilities confirmed that OCSO could use any lockers that didn't have a lock on them, as long as they kept track of which student had which locker and signed a contract.
Completed contracts are handed into OCSO's faculty advisor, who then submits them to Facilities, Patel said.
The lockers may be used to keep books and belongings, however food may not be kept in the locker.
A student can begin using a locker as soon as he or she has completed the contract and handed it in to OCSO. The lockers can be used until May. Students must also provide their own locks. On May 8, the College will cut the locks and dispose of the contents.
The contract stipulates that the College has the right to open lockers without notice to the student if health, safety or security concerns require immediate access.
However, the College will attempt to notify the student if the locker must be opened for routine maintenance or reasons that do not require immediate access, if circumstances permit.
According to Patel, OCSO had more than 200 lockers available for the drive.
At the end of the drive, 25 commuter students had elected to take advantage of the lockers, though Patel said he hoped to have more given out during the course of the year.
