The Designated Driver Shuttle is up and running again after being closed for nearly six weeks.
The shuttle, which provides students a safe alternative to drinking and driving or riding with drunken drivers, will now record the student ID numbers of riders to ensure the safety of employees and passengers.
Van use will be limited to transporting riders, picking up supplies, refueling and maintaining the vehicles, and DDS employees will record mileage, gas usage and the number of riders.
“DDS will be the most efficient student-run organization within the ASUO,” said Dallas Brown, DDS co-director.
The changes are spelled out in a new, 19-page manual that all employees are required to sign and comply with. Several new policies were created, such as what to do with highly intoxicated riders and how to deal with physical, racial or sexual harassment.
DDS Interim co-Directors David Goward and Brown stepped in to re-evaluate the program when the student government’s executive branch decided to close the service after winter break.
The 15-year-old program, which cost each enrolled student about $5 in incidental fees this year, closed after employees took two vans out during non-operating hours over break.
The ASUO Executive fired several employees and both co-directors for violating a probation agreement put in place in October, when alcohol containers were found in the DDS office for the second time in five months.
The new manual states that “absolutely NO alcohol is allowed in the DDS office.” It says that “at no time should the DDS vehicle be used for unofficial business, including personal usage.”
Goward and Brown put in writing everything from training procedures to fueling policies. They also expanded the purpose of the shuttle from simply giving intoxicated students rides home to educating staff members and passengers about alcohol-related issues.
Riders will receive resource and referral information and DDS employees will complete quarterly and annual training sessions, according to the manual.
New DDS employees were hired and trained over the past couple of weeks.
“We have 18 staff members who are chomping at the bit to get back to work,” Goward said.
ASUO President Adam Walsh commended the interim co-directors for getting “down to the meat and potatoes of it.” It took longer than the initial estimation of two weeks to fix the problems.
Walsh said that two weeks was a very idealistic goal.
“It took a lot of work to create a maual that hadn’t previously existed,” Walsh said. “(They) found problems and realistic solutions for them.”
Several University administrators, including EMU Director Dusty Miller and General Counsel to the University Melinda Grier, reviewed and revised the new manual. It went through the assistant vice president of Student Affairs and the director of Student Activities to ensure compatibility with all University policies.
ASUO Programs Coordinator Liora Sponko, who also reviewed the manual, will help maintain oversight of the program in the next few years.
DDS employees are now prohibited from giving rides to patrons who are unconscious when the van arrives. The manual advises that in the event that a patron is unconscious, “do not let that passenger into the van, and inform patrons accompanying them that they should seek medical attention immediately.”
Only students are permitted to call for a pickup. They must provide their student ID number to the dispatcher and again to the driver upon the van’s arrival. Up to two non-student guests are allowed at the discretion of the DDS employees. The policy states that drivers should drop riders off at the University students’ home, and it prohibits drivers from dropping them off at bars or house parties.
The ASUO will complete a total review of DDS in May and will continue to monitor the program every term throughout 2007 and 2008. DDS is open from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily. Call 346-RIDE for a pickup.
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