Gift cards offered for Liberty Station again next year

Gift cards for Fashion Valley mall were distributed to on April 1 for taking classes at the Liberty Station campus.

This incentive was to reward upperclassmen that took courses at the supplemental Liberty Station campus. The underclassmen of the off-campus program gained a priority slot in course registration, which begins this week.

“The incentives have helped us to keep our classes full. We have upped our attendance by 25 percent or more since last semester,” said Coordinator of the Liberty Station program Taylor Hertel.

The roughly $30,000 worth of gift cards given away this semester was an incentive for students to take classes at the Liberty Station campus. In doing this, it has allowed more students to get the classes they need by freeing up time and space on the main campus.

“It’s often hard to get the students motivated to come down here until they have seen it for themselves,” said Hertel. “So this incentive helped us to bring down many more students this semester.”

Students who have already taken Liberty Station courses have mixed feelings about the value of going off campus for class.

“I felt the experience was worth it, because change is a good thing and we should all break free of our comfort zones.” said sophomore Chiara Mahoney, “I would recommend it to others because it is a nice break from the campus life to have classes somewhere different.”

But some students like sophomore Hannah Torrey don’t think that the reward is worth taking a class off-campus.

“It was fine for one class one semester, but I’m not planning on taking any more classes there unless I need to,” said Torrey. “It is what it is and it’s bearable, but living on campus makes it annoying.”

Both Mahoney and Torrey emphasized the opportunity of getting their morning Starbucks as a benefit of the location. The Liberty Station campus also has restaurants nearby like Subway and Smashburger.

Buses were provided for transportation to and from the main campus, but students are welcome to drive themselves, which takes about 25 minutes total according to students who drive themselves.

For those who have the additional time, the commute may be worth it.

“I was able to get out of my normal routine and explore a new area off campus,” said Mahoney.

The gift card and priority registration incentives will be offered again this fall semester for students who want to take a class at the Liberty Station campus. There will also be a wider variety of classes being offered there.