By: Jennifer Cardwell
Reprinted from: http://points-of-vista.posterous.com/courtesy-patrol-to-the-rescue

The Northwest Vista College (NVC) campus community has grown tremendously and getting around when you have classes at opposite ends of the campus is tough.

So, who do you call? Courtesy Patrol! At NVC, there is a department that is dedicated to servicing faculty and students. The Courtesy Patrol is part of Teaching and Learning Facilitation (TLF). This department was originally designed to assist students around campus.

“Courtesy Patrol has been around for about eight years,” says Mike Wright from the Courtesy Patrol team, in the Mountain Laurel Hall (MLH) building. He has worked on the NVC campus for five years and says that he enjoys meeting and helping students and faculty get around.

The Courtesy Patrol used to give rides to anyone who wanted a lift, but due to budget cuts, new service guidelines were established. Now Courtesy Patrol is only offered to students who have a recognized disability according to the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and register for disability services at the Access Office located in the Cypress Campus Center (CCC).

“I wish University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) had this service when I went to college there,” said a courtesy patrol user assisted by Mike from her car to the number four stop by Rbud Learning Center last week.

There are several designated locations on campus used as pick up stations. The stations are identified by the numbers 1-9. Students needing assistance who call the courtesy Patrol office are told to wait by the pickup station, which has also helps the courtesy patrol identify the students needing their service.

“The Courtesy Patrol is busy during class changes throughout the day,” said Patricia, another NVC campus employee. Unfortunately the weather can affect the patrol services. For instance, the patrol services were suspended during a heavy rain storm which brought pea size hail. “Escorts were suspended due to safety issues” Patricia said.

The Courtesy Patrol is also responsible for enforcing parking regulations. For example, cars must park in one designated parking spot, which means parking in between the white lines. Some students with new cars or big trucks take up more than one space which makes parking on NVC campus more difficult.

The Courtesy Patrol also monitors students’ use of parking permits and write tickets to vehicles without a visible hanging tag.

“I don’t care where you put the decal, as long as I can tell that it is for NVC parking,” said Mike, when asked about students who use sun visors which block the parking decal.

Other services offered by the Courtesy Patrol are assistance with battery issues, assistance in locating your car in the event that you have forgotten where you parked, lost and found, and basic first aid. For more information visit the Courtesy Patrol website.