Saint Mary's refused to compromise safety for schedule reorganization of the shuttle between the College and Notre Dame, taking on the sole financial burden of extra weekend hours.
Earlier this semester, Linda Timm, Saint Mary's vice president of Student Affairs, received an e-mail detailing cuts in the budget allowance for shuttle services. The new plan scheduled shuttles until 10 p.m. Monday through Friday with no service on the weekends, leaving the shuttle running nearly 30 hours less than it did last year.
Both Notre Dame and Saint Mary's will continue to share the cost of shuttle operation, but Saint Mary's will solely cover the cost of the additional hours it requested.
"My concern is that our students use the shuttle often on the weekends," Timm said. "We felt that adding hours on Friday and Saturday was most important."
Shuttles will now run until 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
During shuttle schedule reorganization, Timm received several parent phone calls regarding students' safety.
"It was comforting to be able to tell parents that we were already looking for ways to accommodate our students," Timm said.
In the event that Saint Mary's students need transportation after shuttles stop running, they may call Saint Mary's security from the Grotto. Timm and other school officials are considering moving the call location to a more secure area with better lighting.
Regardless, Timm advised that "students should try their best to get back during the time the shuttles are running."
