Aaron Burns | News Co-Editor
Recent budget cuts have taken place at Buena Vista University (BVU). One cut from the budget is funding for the RIDES program. The funding was cut because of low activity and abuse of the program. A majority of the students that used the RIDES program were international students. Now students must pay a fee of $2.50 for a one-way ride.
Director of International Student Services Carol Williams stated that although it may seem to have an negative affect on students, it also forces them to become more organized with their schedules.
“I know from experience that the RIDES bus was probably most used by international students. It is a great service—I miss it, and I know the students miss it, but in the conversations that I’ve had with some of the students, it’s forced them to become more organized and learn ‘you don’t run to Wal-Mart everyday, we run to Wal-Mart once a week,'” Williams said.
Along with having to pay for the RIDES program, the amount of work study award money that international students can receive has been cut back. The cuts were made in at the beginning of year in the fall.
“From my perspective on work study, it was an equity issue. We had a maximum amount that domestic students could earn and a separate amount for international students. The move was to bring them into equity amount. That did cause a deduction in the maximum eligibility for international students,” Vice President of Enrollment Management Mike Frantz said.
International students by law cannot be employed off of campus. Their on-campus employment is all they have to rely on income wise to help their families pay for their expenses, such as tuition, room, board. The added cost from the reduction in the RIDES program is now a direct expense for them. Williams does explain that if students need help with costs of transportation that BVU would work with them to make it affordable.
“It’s unfortunate, but my goal is to work with students to find better solutions and different ways of dealing with things. The airport shuttle, for example, my office is going to work to coordinate that at the beginning and the ending of the year. It’s not going to be something that happens every break, but we are willing to work with students to coordinate to help students divide the costs,” Williams said.
Graphic by Keyla Sosa
