USC's student senate passed six pieces of legislation, including recommendations to increase transportation access at the College of Nursing and address pedestrian safety needs on Barnwell Street.
The senate passed a reccomendation, introduced by Senators Caleb Geddens and Amanda Blanton, to increase access to transportation at the College of Nursing Clinical Education Building in West Columbia.
According to the recommendation, USC nursing students face significant transportation challenges du e to the lack of access to USC transportation resources for travel to and from the Clinical Education Building in West Columbia.
Currently, students must rely on private transportation, such as personal vehicles or rideshare services, leading to increased financial burdens from fuel costs and other expenses. International students are particularly affected, as they cannot obtain a South Carolina driver’s license, making it difficult for them to travel to both the Clinical Education Building and clinical locations, some of which are up to 50 miles away. Meanwhile, students on USC’s main Columbia campus benefit from around-the-clock public transportation services.
"Nursing students are still paying the transportation fee in their tuition, but do not have access to it," Geddens said.
The recommendation encourages the College of Nursing to work with the USC transportation department to create a pilot program extending daytime shuttle services to the Clinical Education Building, with at least one shuttle running at the start and end of service hours. It also suggests developing a student-run carpooling system for nursing students to coordinate shared transportation to the CEB and clinical sites in the Midlands region.
The senate also passed a recommendation, introduced by Senator Jeffrey Lyons, to immediately address pedestrian safety concerns on Barnwell Street.
According to the recommendation, pedestrian safety is a major concern for both students and the university, especially given the high volume and speed of traffic on and around campus. While various safety measures—such as crosswalk markings, signage and pedestrian countdown timers—are in place to protect pedestrians, some areas remain high-risk due to missing or faded signage.
One such location is Barnwell Street in front of Capstone House, where two designated crosswalks exist but lack adequate signage and road markings, according to the legislation.
The recommendation suggests that USC and the City of Columbia immediately replace the missing and damaged R1-6 in-street crosswalk signs at Barnwell Street. Additionally, the faded white crosswalk markings should be repainted to ensure drivers can clearly identify pedestrian crossings. Finally, the university and city should conduct a comprehensive review of all crosswalk signage and markings around USC’s campus to ensure they meet state safety standards and South Carolina Department of Transportation guidelines.
"Drivers aren't really noticing that students are crossing the street there," Lyons said. "Student safety is really important."
The senate also passed a recommendation, also introduced by Geddens, to expand insurance coverage and transparency at the Center for Student Health and Wellbeing.
According to the recommendation, Student Health Services at the University of South Carolina only accepts the Student Health Plan, leaving most students, who remain on their parents' insurance, unable to access care on campus. As a result, many students must seek medical attention at off-campus urgent care centers or hospitals, which can be hard to access due to transportation difficulties.
The recommendation says that expanding the insurance network would significantly improve healthcare accessibility for students. Additionally, limited pricing information for Self-Pay services is available online, despite the hospital price transparency requirement set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The recommendation proposes that Student Health Services clearly list accepted insurance plans on the student health and wellbeing center website and ensure that all patients receive this information before treatment. Furthermore, self-pay prices for all services should be published online in compliance with CMS transparency guidelines. Finally, Student Health Services should expand its insurance network to accept a wider range of plans, aligning with those accepted by Columbia’s major hospital systems, ensuring that more students can receive healthcare on campus.
"If students still are out of network with their insurance, students can better make an informed decision- if it would be more convenient for them to pay the out of pocket price- to have the convenience of walking steps to the Student Health Center to get their health care- or finding somewhere else to go that's in network with their insurance," Geddens said.
The senate also passed a recommendation, introduced by Senator Amaya Sowell, to improve maintenance on the bathrooms in the Coker Life Sciences Building.
The recommendation suggests that renovations and maintenance be conducted on the bathroom stalls to ensure they properly close and lock, improving the safety and accessibility of the space for students.
Other passed pieces of legislation, included a bill to amend the Student Government codes to prevent conflict of interest due to branch position overlap as well as a bill to permit the Finance Committee to review requests submitted fewer than 15 university days before an event.