County College Copes With Surge in Students

To help meet the demand of increasing enrollment, Union County College is encouraging students to stick to the campus nearest to them. The two-year institution, along with high education institutions nationwide, .

The goal is to encourage students to find a concentrated "home campus" and, by extension, meet the demand with minimal traveling between the schools, said President Margaret McMenamin. After all, most of the curriculum is the same at all Union County College locations, for the exception of specialized programs such as the Trinitas School of Nursing in Elizabeth. 

To help meet current needs, additional classes are also being held in the Kellogg Building on the Elizabeth campus. While it might seem counterintuitive to the goal of keeping students on one campus, it is in line with McMenamin's philosophy that no student should be turned away from the course of their choosing.

 "The student is number one. We do not want to see anybody cut out of a class," McMenamin said.

A side-effect of the increasing enrollment is the decreased availability of parking. Students have found themselves increasingly parking in neighborhoods and walking to the campus - an action that has caused concern for some Cranford residents close to the institution, who see the encroachment spreading with each semester.

During the morning's arrival of students, several vehicles cycle through the parking lots, while others pull to the side and wait patiently for spaces to open up. Crossing guards direct the flow of traffic and kept a watchful eye on cars entering the faculty lot to make sure vehicles inside were properly authorized to be there.

In the short-term, the school has worked with the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church across the street along Springfield Ave. to offer some immediate relief. The church allows students to park in their lot during weekdays to lessen the load on the current parking lot occupancy. Students also board a shuttle bus to get to and from distant lots to campus. The shuttle bus concept was created by McMenamin.

In the long term, the administration hopes to increase lot capacity on campus, although the administration does not yet know when this might occur.

"We're also looking to redesign the parking lot," said Ellen Dotto, Secretary of the Board and Executive Director of College Relations.