In his freshman year Seth Cutter, then-future president of the Student Government, took a trip with the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program.
Two AUTO vans, filled with students, were driving to a campsite in Maryland when one of the vans broke down, stranding half of the group.
“In retrospect, it highlighted the issues with AUTO,” Cutter said. “The users didn’t know who to call if it broke down, and there was confusion at the university about who was liable to go get the van.”
Eventually, the second van doubled back and picked up the stranded students. Someone from the university retrieved the van for repairs the next day.
After years of similar stories — of students being left stranded in dangerous areas, of vans breaking down mid-trip, of inconsistent service from SG officials — the program was suspended at the end of last semester in an attempt to allow SG officials and administrators to fix the AUTO program.
The suspension is temporary and vans will hopefully be available as soon as the end of January, but AU bureaucracy could hold up the reintroduction of AUTO, according to MacCracken.
“I know that the drafts of the policies will be ready on our end,” he said. “When you’re at AU, you seem to sprint a 100 meters so you can wait for a few days to run again. That’s kind of what we’re dealing with right now, and it’s unfortunate.”
Ultimately, the decision to suspend the program rested with AUTO Commissioner Nicholas Russotto, although he was in close consultation with other SG officials, including MacCracken, Student Activities Adviser Jarrod MacNeil and Director of Risk Management Tony Newman.
“We all agreed that the program needed serious rehabilitation to continue functioning,” Russotto said in an e-mail. “I had their full support in my decision.”
When Russotto was first appointed AUTO commissioner, he was struck by the amount of work needed.
“New policies needed to be drafted, vans needed to be sent to maintenance, the [online reservation system] AgileFleet was clotted with reservations from years past that had never been appropriately cleared out,” he said. “Shutting down the program seemed to be the only option.”
MacCracken, Russotto and other administration officials are hoping to mitigate future problems by writing down official policies for the first time. MacCracken hopes that publishing an actual policy manual — which does not yet exist — will make transitions between SG administrations and commissioners smoother, leading to less controversy on the personnel side of the AUTO program.
Russotto listed other changes and improvements to the AUTO program. Monetary punishments will be charged to those who break AUTO policy; the billing system will now be by the hour, not by the mile, and vans will be cleaned and fixed. Garmin GPS units will also be available for rent.
The temporary shutdown has left many clubs scrambling to figure out how to make their commitments and continue functioning.
Donald Curtis, the coordinator of Operations and Programs at the Community Service Center, said that many service organizations, such as DC Reads and Facilitating Leadership in Youth are struggling to get to where they need to go. The Center is now relying on one van and Metro to transport students.
“We have multiple sites for the organizations,” he said. “Some of them need the [Community Service Center] van at the same time on the same night. It’s frustrating.”
In response to the continuing problems with AUTO, some club members and AU students have wondered whether it would be better for students if the administration took a larger role in running the program. Cutter said that there are pros and cons to both sides.
“From a student perspective, as a user, having dedicated staff would really streamline the process,” he said. “But the program also gives invaluable experience to students in running a business.”
Russotto agreed that greater administration control would eliminate time delay and “missed connections.” However, “AUTO is a branch of the Student Government and I think that, with much more staff oversight, the risk is run of making it an ‘administration’ program with student advisory, rather than vice versa.”
AUTO already works within the framework of the administration. The policies are written by the SG but must be approved by the Office of Risk Management since the vans and other assets belong to the university, according to MacCracken.
Whether or not the problems will be solved by the reforms remains to be seen. SG Treasurer Alan Chang said part of the problem was the SG’s decision to allow club sports to use the van, overextending the program and burdening the vans.
MacCracken and Cutter both said the problems with AUTO are nothing new.
“I was talking to one of my predecessors about 10 years removed and were lamenting the same problems about AUTO,” MacCracken said. “The problems have been there for a long time.”
You can reach this staff writer at cszold@theeagleonline.com.
