AU Transportation Organization Commissioner Mike Berg said at a hearing Tuesday that he plans to resolve recent complaints about AUTO by implementing a system that allows users to reserve AUTO vans online.
"This will streamline the process," Berg said. "This system will definitely improve our customer service."
The SC Finance Committee called the hearing to address complaints it received from student organizations that their applications for van reservations had been lost and that Berg responded late to their e-mails or phone calls.
Committee Chairman Joe Gallina noted the student organizations said that once they were able to contact Berg, he quickly fulfilled their needs.
Berg said that to solve these communication problems, he will send confirmation e-mails one week prior to each reservation beginning this Friday. He also expects the online reservation system to help increase efficiency and improve communication when it is installed in two to three weeks.
"The new system will eliminate the need for a lot of paperwork and e-mails by answering questions up front," Berg said.
The old method required student organizations to fill out paperwork and pass it to their advisers for approval. The forms were handed to Student Activities and then to Berg. Each day he brought a reservation schedule to Public Safety, which is in charge of loaning the vans.
The new system will allow certified drivers to make reservations on an updated calendar, avoiding scheduling conflicts. It will automatically send notifications to advisers, Public Safety and Berg.
"It will all happen instantaneously," Berg said, adding, "There's no paperwork to lose."
At the hearing, Gallina could only paraphrase complaints from the e-mails he had received because many of the organizations had requested anonymity.
"It's hard to address specific complaints when you don't have them in front of you," Berg said. However he said he understands the need for anonymity and thought that it was fair to paraphrase.
"I don't think Joe [Gallina] was withholding anything from me," he said.
Gallina said he was satisfied with Berg's plan of action and optimistic about improvement in AUTO's customer service.
"He answered the questions, and I'm confident that he can take care of most of the issues that came up," Gallina said.
The committee will create a list of recommendations to present to Berg at the SC meeting on Sunday. Gallina said he plans to include the content of some of the complaint e-mails but not to the extent that the authors would be revealed.
The hearing also addressed matters unrelated to the complaints about communication, including stricter certification programs for drivers and the need for a new van that could accommodate disabled students.
Berg said he plans to buy a new handicapped van soon because he didn't think the current van would pass inspection next year. The van is old and has various problems, including alignment troubles, he said.
The committee raised questions about the laxness of driver re-certification. To become certified, students must watch a video and pass a road test and a written test. Student Activities must check their driving record for the past three years. The process takes about two weeks.
To re-certify, drivers must pass another road test and resubmit their license for a driving record check, but they do not have to retake the written test. Some members of the committee were concerned that this is insufficient testing for re-certification, which students must undergo each calendar year.
The committee also raised concerns that drivers were taking their certification tests in the smaller vans (7- or 12-person vans) instead of the larger 15-person vans. Gallina said the AUTO by-laws dictate that the test must be performed in the larger van, but Berg said he was not familiar with this rule.
Berg explained that drivers had been taking their tests in the smaller vans because often the larger vans were being loaned.
"I have to use the largest van available. I can't not give people a van just because I have to give a road test," he said.
When Gallina asked the committee afterward if they thought the hearing was productive, all seven members nodded.
"This hearing is just the context in which to begin our oversight," Gallina said. "I wanted to hear from Berg what AUTO's working on, what they're doing, what they plan on doing.
"This way, in the future when we have specific complaints, we won't have to hold a hearing like this," he said. "It's going to be us giving the complaints to him and saying, 'This came our way,' and have him address it"
