OCS' New Hours Student-Friendly

Figuring out what we want to do for the rest of our lives is getting a little bit easier, thanks to an innovation the University should have implemented years ago. Beginning this week, the Office of Career Services (OCS) started keeping open its reading room and resource collection on the first floor and in the basement until 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.

We applaud OCS officials' recognizing that students have classes and extracurricular commitments in the afternoons and often cannot make it to the building before the reading room closes at 4:30 p.m. The extra hours may also add a modicum of calm to the reading room during frenzied afternoons, because students will realize that they can come back after dinner to look for more information. And anything that would make the atmosphere less tense in the room where students decide their futures is a positive change. It is about time the College realized that students operate on a much later schedule than the rest of the world, and we would like to see OCS open until 8 p.m. every day, with reduced morning hours if necessary to keep costs in line.

This decision is a welcome example of the University's paying more than lip service to student needs. OCS should institutionalize and expand the pilot program. We hope that the administration continues to put tangible, financial resources toward making life saner for undergraduates.