It’s commendable that the university is making an effort to keep its resources up-to-date and continually accessible for students, both through university-wide upgrades taking place over the summer and by surveying students about the accessibility of transportation on campus.

While it may not be something all students actively think about once they arrive at Grand Valley State University, the school’s appearance plays a large role in drawing in prospective students. The $500,000 in planned maintenance taking place this summer will not only keep the campus up-to-date for current students, but it will also help draw in future Lakers, which helps keep our tuition prices low.

The Transportation Department’s bus survey, too, will help maintain student satisfaction. While the university has no plans to begin charging for the Rapid service — a student concern that was sparked after a question on the bus survey asked whether, and how much, respondents would be willing to pay for bus access — survey responses can help improve upon an already-unique service. Hopefully, complaints of overcrowding — which still persist despite Rapid ridership numbers that suggest a decreased overall ridership — can be alleviated with the help of the bussing survey.

Though the bussing survey will not directly affect any of the students at GVSU as far as services go, the information drawn from it is important to know. Much like paying attention to detail to keeping the campus looking fresh and intact, the administration hopes results from the survey will indicate whether or not the bus routes at the university are part of the reason for the recent boom in enrollment and subsequent retention rates. And sure, there are areas of the campus that can always be improved upon — for example, sidewalks on dimly-lit and busy streets like Pierce have been a cause of student concern and outcry for years, while the administration at GVSU, Allendale and Georgetown Twshp. planning committees pull from a bottomless barrel of complexities as to why no improvements have been made and aren’t scheduled. On the whole, however, GVSU’s campus is a clean one that pays attention to things like energy efficiency — and in a day and age where number crunches make the cheapest solution the preferred method, this university has chosen to trade in convenience for sustainability — and that’s something to be proud of.