|
U.S. Open Makes Light Impact on UC San Diego Campus
Ioana Patringenaru | June 16, 2008
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Judy Lane, director of Special Events and Protocol, pose in front of UCSD's hospitality tent at the U.S. Open.
On one side of North Torrey Pines Road last week, crowds gathered to watch the world’s best golf players vie for the U.S. Open title. On the other side of the road, on the UC San Diego campus, it was pretty much business-as-usual, officials said.
The Open’s impact on campus turned out to be fairly small—including June 16 when the golf tournament went into overtime with a playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate.
Traffic around campus was smooth during practice rounds, but became busier starting Thursday. More people also rode public transportation, from buses to the Coaster. About 1,000 employees took advantage of flexible work arrangements the university offered last week, including telecommuting and off-campus retreats. But, overall, the tournament, which took place June 9 to 16 at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, didn’t impact the university’s day-to-day operations, officials said.
“It’s been wonderful,” said Judy Lane, UCSD’s director of Special Events and Protocol, who chaired a campuswide committee working on plans for the event.
The Torrey Pines Golf Course hosted this year's U.S. Open June 9 to 16. (© USGA/John Mummert)
Lane added the tournaments’ impact turned out to be as light as she had foreseen, but probably lighter than most people expected. When the Open went into an unexpected playoff, university officials sprung into action Sunday to make sure everything went well for one more day, Lane said.
Last week already had been smooth, as the tournament revved up Thursday and Friday, while activities on campus revved down, she also said. “It’s been great,” Lane added. Lane pointed to UCSD’s early involvement in the event as one of the keys to last week’s success. The campus worked closely with the United States Golf Association and the city to plan for the tournament, she said.
“The whole point of this was to be a good partner and a good neighbor to the City of San Diego,” Lane said.
As a result, UCSD was able to exert some influence in planning the event, including the decision to have most visitors park their cars at Qualcomm Stadium and ride shuttles to the golf course, Lane said. The USGA, the city and Caltrans also worked with UCSD to protect university parking spots and prevent traffic jams around campus.
Chancellor Fox greeted every member of the UCSD community that came by the campus' hospitality tent, from students to alumni and donors.
A hospitality venue
The university leased the Gliderport and 1,300 vacant parking spots in three different lots to the USGA. In turn, the national golf association provided at no charge a hospitality tent, food and beverages for the duration of the tournament, as well as 180 tickets. That created a venue, which allowed everyone in the UCSD community to enjoy the tournament, said Lane. For example, the Alumni Association invited all past presidents to the Open and hosted a “Presidents Day” event there. “Having the opportunity to get together in one place in a happy, fun atmosphere is priceless for us,” Lane said.
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox spent time at the tent all week. She met with students, faculty, staff members, elected officials, business and community leaders, visitor tour guides, alumni and donors. She greeted every one of them with a handshake and a warm “Welcome!”
Some had come to try and catch a glimpse of golf celebrities, such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, respectively first and second in the PGA’s world golf rankings. Others came for love of the game. Last Tuesday, John Payne and Dan Maringer, who work for University Centers, were enjoying their food after spending about two hours admiring Torrey Pines’ back nine—that’s the final nine holes of an 18-hole golf course.
“This is like the Super Bowl of golf,” Payne said. “To be able to be part of it is an honor and a privilege.”
Asked whether they had seen any celebrity golfers that morning, Payne and Maringer pointed out that all U.S. Open players are good, even though their name recognition might not be. On one round, they saw, all but one player came within six feet of their target. “As hack golfers ourselves, we can appreciate that,” said Maringer.
Tiger Woods plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during the practice round at Torrey Pines Golf Course Tuesday.
(© USGA/John Mummert)
Flexible work schedules
Meanwhile, about 1000 UCSD employees chose to taken advantage of the flexible work schedules the campus provided during the U.S. Open, said Tom Leet, assistant vice chancellor of Human Resources. The goal was to allow employees to stay away from busy traffic routes to the tournament, he added. “A lot of people are telecommuting,” said Leet, including himself in that category.
Leet came into the office for some days last week, but worked from home the others. The Human Resources department installed a computer server, which allowed employees to perform all their tasks remotely, he said. Last week also was an ideal time for employees to get training online, take classes off campus, take vacation or organize departmental retreats and planning sessions, he added.
One potential problem was that some positions, such as receptionists, aren’t suitable for telecommuting, Leet pointed out. Human Resources encouraged departments to communicate and find work for these staff members outside of their own unit, if they didn’t wish to take vacation.
“So far, things are going very smoothly,” Leet said.
On campus
Workers and staff members stenciled UC San Diego's name and logo on the roof of the Torrey Pines Center North building in hopes it would appear in aerial TV shots.
Things were humming along too in the campus’ residence halls, said Mark Cunningham, executive director of Housing, Dining and Hospitality. All dining facilities were open last week, as were dorms. All programs were fully staffed.
Cunningham said that his department focused on communicating with students and parents early on, letting them know about the U.S. Open and the impact it could have on campus. Housing and Dining put information about the event on its Web site as early as move-in day last year. The Open was mentioned again in a letter parents received in mid-December.
Then between March and June, the department sent 34,000 e-mails giving parents and students more information about the tournament. Housing and Dining, in conjunction with Transportation and Parking Services, set aside parking areas for move-out day, which took place June 14. The two departments also set up an online system, where parents and students could print out special parking passes for that day.
“I think UCSD deserves a pat on the back,” Cunningham said.
Housing and Dining advised students and parents to wait until 9 a.m. to come to campus on move-out day and to leave before 3 p.m. That allowed them to miss most Open-related traffic, Cunningham said. Many students started emptying their rooms June 7 and 8, he added. “They’re getting out of here,” Cunningham said.
|
