Myths

Commuter Myths

MYTH: Commuter students are not traditional students since they do not live on campus.
TRUTH: Commuter Students choose to commute and live off campus for a variety of reasons, including financial-related, family-related, and/or living preferences. Commuter students are a strong part of WSU campus and choose to live off campus, while still being active partners of the campus community.

MYTH: Students who live in apartments on Zink Road are not commuter students.
TRUTH: All students who do not reside on campus property ARE commuter students. Many students choose to live in the apartments on Zink Road because of the ability to live off campus for whatever reason, but yet still close enough to campus to still feel immersed in the college experience.

MYTH: Commuter students are all so different that they do not share any commonalities.
TRUTH: Commuter students, whether on Zink Road, in the heart of Fairborn, or commuting 40 minutes from their homes do share some common concerns. Students who commute to WSU share concerns related to how they will get to campus, parking situations, balancing their life outside of campus with on campus involvement, sharing time with their family, friends, roommates and with academics, and for some, managing their time between extensive work schedules and study schedules.

MYTH: Commuter students are apathetic towards WSU and do not care as much about their education.
TRUTH: Commuter students are highly motivated individuals who take on many additional challenges that possibly some residential students do not. Commuter students have many obstacles which curtail them, such as financial obligations, work and social priorities, parking problems, and family situations, but they consistently make their presence known on campus and throughout the academic sector of WSU.

MYTH: If commuters wanted to be "real" college students, they would be more involved with campus life at WSU.
TRUTH: Commuters are REAL college students and they do become more involved with campus life, especially at WSU. With 80% of students being commuter students and nearly 200 student organizations, just take a good look at any of these organizations and you will see how involved commuters are. Take for example, the fraternal greeks at WSU, nearly 2/3 of the 400 Greeks live off campus and Greeks are some of the most involved students on campus.

MYTH: Commuter students are not interested in campus events and activities and therefore do not attend.
TRUTH: Commuter students will participate in campus activities if they are designed to meet their needs, meaning the location, times, days, and programs need to be formatted with commuters in mind. Commuters have sometimes hectic schedules and events that fall during late hours, for example, will not be beneficial to them. Information also needs to be properly and timely distributed to commuters so they can rearrange their work schedule, provide for daycare, and other rearrangements, as to accommodate these activities. Doing so will increase commuter student participation, because commuters DO want to get involved.

MYTH: Parking on campus is the commuter students' largest complaint with WSU.
TRUTH: While it would seem logical that this would be a commuter's first complaint, most commuters find it difficult to develop relationships with the faculty and peers because of their hectic schedules. They sometimes feel like they do not "belong."

MYTH: Commuter students are impossible to reach since they spend so much less time on campus than residents.
TRUTH: It is true that most commuter students spend less time on campus, but this is a challenge that can be overcome by the school, faculty, and student organizations. Commuters cannot rely on the word of mouth approach or even the tables on the quad, because they may not always be out when they are on campus to hear it. The university and student organizations need to be thoughtful when coming up with ideas on how to reach commuters students.