January 29th, 2003 60LCB#3
NightRide/NightWalk Reform and Expansion Act
Sponsored by: Courtney
Kramer Vice-President
Representative Council
Eugene Pearson 2nd
Vice President
Authored by: Eugene Pearson 2nd Vice
President
A Bill
Bill
History
The NightRide/NightWalk (NRNW) program has been in
existence since 1985 when it was created by the Volunteer Clearing House. After the murder of Susannah Chase (a
student at the University of Colorado at Boulder) in December 1997, the program
was more heavily utilized. In FY 1998
NRNW services were expanded to allow a second vehicle to be leased, paid staff
to be hired, and the program to be moved to the UMC. During the 2001 semester the program ran three vehicles, one of
which was cut back due to budget cuts.
In recent years the program has received increased demand by the student
population. From August 25th,
2003, to December 17th, 2003, 5,405 people have utilized the
program. But 1,684 students (25% of
answered calls) have been turned down, primarily due to the extended wait,
which has increased with the ridership.
Bill
Summary
This bill establishes minimum
levels of service for the NRNW program, sets forth a timetable for expansion of
the program, establishes a refined mission statement for the program, defines
protocol for the UCSU to work with the NRNW program in the future, and
establishes the desire for consistency in safety programs within the UCSU.
THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED by the
Legislative Council of the University of Colorado Student Union, THAT,
SECTION 1: A
minimum of three vehicles will be used by the NRNW program during the Spring
and Fall semesters. A minimum of one
vehicle will be available for the May semester and the Summer semesters. These vehicles shall be used in a manner
consistent with the NRNW mission statement.
The NRNW Director shall obtain vehicles which are determined to be safe,
reliable, and cost effective to the program.
It will be the responsibility of the Director to secure the vehicles
needed for the program and the Director is entrusted to thoroughly investigate
options of obtaining vehicles.
SECTION 2: The NRNW
program’s hours of operation will be set forth as follows
A.
Opening Hours are to be determined by the following
table which sets forth the latest time which the NRNW program may open in a
given month.
Month Time
January 5:45 P.M.
February 5:45 P.M.
March 6:00 P.M.
April 6:30 P.M.
May 7:00 P.M.
June 8:00 P.M.
July 8:00 P.M.
August 7:30 P.M.
September 7:00 P.M.
October 6:00 P.M.
November 5:45 P.M.
December 5:45 P.M.
B.
The earliest Closing Hour shall be 12:15 A.M. Sunday
through Thursday and 1:15 A.M. Friday and Saturday during the Fall and Spring
semesters. During the Summer semester
the earliest closing times will be 11:15 P.M. Sunday through Thursday and 12:00
A.M. Friday and Saturday.
C.
The Director of the NRNW program shall extend hours
of operation at their discretion should funding permit. The NRNW Director shall have the authority
to suspend operations on a day to day basis if there are safety concerns, or if
the university is not in session.
SECTION 3: The NRNW
mission statement shall be, “NightRide/NightWalk
is dedicated to meeting the safety needs of CU students, faculty, and staff by
providing night-time transportation and pedestrian escorts to help provide a
safe academic and socially responsible environment both on campus and in the
community.”
SECTION 4:
The NRNW program will maintain a high level of service to the student
population by recording a minimum of the following information: number of
clients serviced, size of party, number of distinct parties given rides, number
of cancellations, reasons for cancellations, information relating to the
general area to which rides are going i.e. the Hill, to campus, Gauss Grove
etc., and whether or not the client has used the service before. The NRNW program shall maintain a record of
this information and other information it collects for its own purposes;
however, the NRNW program will maintain personal client information for no more
than one semester. Personal client
information is defined as the unique number address, telephone number, name, or
any other information which may be used to identify clients of the NRNW
program. The Director and the staff of
the NRNW program shall be granted access to personal information during this
time; however, the NRNW program shall not disclose personal client information
to anyone else, including members of the Legislative Council, Executive(s) or
Executive Staff, or any employee of the UCSU unless ordered by a majority vote
of the Legislative Council.
SECTION 5: The NRNW
program, in keeping with the goal of providing the best possible service to the
CU community, will try to maintain an average wait time less than 20 minutes for
single individuals and a cancellation rate of less than 15%. The Director of the NRNW program will make
yearly recommendations to the Legislative Council keeping this benchmark in
mind.
SECTION 6: All
powers not explicitly stated in this legislation shall be reserved for the
Director of the NRNW program who shall be appointed by the Director of the
UMC. The Director of the UMC or their
designee shall be the direct administrator of the NRNW program.
SECTION 7: The
following “Four Year Plan for the Expansion of the NightRide/NightWalk Program”
shall serve as a guideline to developing a long term plan of expansion of the
NRNW program. Adjustments can be made
to the plan while keeping the spirit of the expansion in mind.
A.
FY 2004-2005
i.
Expanded Hours
ii.
Expand Fleet to 3 vehicles
iii.
Revised mission statement
iv.
Improved and Appropriate Advertising
v.
Improved client awareness of, and possible
coordination with, the Night Hop
B.
FY 2005-2006
i.
One Intra-campus vehicle to replace NightWalk
a.
Light vehicle for on-campus travel
b.
Satellite operations at one additional location
(Norlin or Engineering Center)
ii.
Expansion of hours pending evaluation of previous
expansion of hours
iii.
Additional dispatch personnel
iv.
Possible fleet expansion determined by benchmarks in
Section 5
v.
Deployment of new phone operations system
vi.
Addition of supervisory position to allow Director
to focus more on alternate funding methods
C.
FY 2006-2007
i.
One additional Intra-campus vehicle to replace
NightWalk
a.
Light vehicle for on-campus travel
b.
Satellite operations at one additional location
(Norlin or Engineering Center)
ii.
Possible fleet expansion determined by benchmarks in
Section 5
iii.
Re-evaluation of NightRide/NightWalk’s hours of
operation to assess pros and cons of a possible voucher system for hours after
the program stops running
D.
FY 2007-2008
i.
Evaluate status of the NightRide/NightWalk program
ii.
Evaluate methods of advertisement
iii.
Develop new four year plan for the NRNW program
SECTION 8: It shall
be the responsibility of the NRNW Director to maintain communication with the Executive
branch and the Legislative Council by submitting a yearly report.
SECTION 9: This bill takes effect for Fiscal Year
2004-2005 upon passage by the Legislative Council.
1-29-04 Passed
as Amended 12-0-1
2-5-04 Passed 13-0-0
Laura Reinsch Vershara
Lott
Legislative Council President Tri-executive
______________________________ ______________________________
Sergio Gonzales Richard
Murray
Tri-executive Tri-executive