One of the most frustrating experiences on campus is not being able to find parking. I remember as an undergraduate student being late to class, simply because I could not find a place to park. I once missed a class entirely as a result of this. It was either that, or park in a 30-minute meter during a 75-minute class period and pay for a citation. I already had my share of parking tickets, so missing class seemed like the better option. As you could imagine, I did not think highly of parking services, I figured no other institution could provide such a horrible experience.
A recent article in The Chronicle addresses the parking issue on college campuses, it happens to be fairly common. At a community college, students arrive to campus as early as 6am for their 8am class, to ensure they find a place to park. Campus parking is an issue that has an impact on more than just students; faculty and staff also experience a great inconvenience. A faculty member at another institution has been late to her own recitals and instrument lessons. She often stays on campus as late as 11pm for event obligations, but arrives to campus as early as 7:30am to secure parking.
It could be argued that a solution to this problem is to use public transportation. However, this is not a viable option for everyone. People may live far away from campus and not have this service readily available. Others may need to be places before or after work/school, and do not have enough time to wait on this service. Also, it could be that public transportation does not run early or late enough. I do think these are important issues to consider.
I would not be as concerned about this if parking was free, it would be understandable. However, that is not the case at any institution (that I know of). Parking permits are relatively expensive. It’s absurd that you pay so much for a permit but are not guaranteed a space to park. Parking services makes a tremendous profit, while students and faculty struggle to make it to class on time. The article states, “when parking demand exceeds supply, colleges routinely oversell the number of permits relative to the number of spaces.” How is this ethical?—It’s not.
After becoming more aware of this issue, I searched for information about parking at UNC. According to their website, there are 3,514 faculty/staff members, but only 515 faculty/staff parking spaces. If I have done my math correctly, only 14.6% of faculty/staff are able to park their cars at UNC. Yes, I know not all faculty/staff are on campus at the same exact time, but this percentage is still alarming to me.
Although I admit that I generally have fairly limited tolerance for student (and/or faculty/staff) complaints about parking on campus, your post did remind me that there can be legitimate cause for concern. A few years ago I was involved in a group in the Denver/Boulder area that was focused on exploring alternative transportation options on college campuses. RTD was the central point of discussion, though there were several creative other options being discussed. The main ‘take away’ that I had from participation was that in a real crunch, simply making additional options available to students (i.e. bus passes, bike racks, etc.) may not be enough.
ReplyDeleteOne of the institutions was exploring an incentive program which would actually give students a tuition discount for not parking on campus (there were some detailed exceptions and other ‘fine print’ to their potential plan). If such a program existed, would the students who could take public transit, bike, walk, or otherwise get to campus without taking up a parking space, be more inclined to do so? Potentially. However, I have concerns about the other implications of such a plan. It would likely provide an advantage to students who live in urban areas (i.e. on a bus route), and those who live close to campus. Typically housing closer to campus and/or in close proximity to a bus line is more expensive. Students who live in more rural areas would likely be unable to take advantage of the incentive. Other concerns relating to the disparity in accessing the incentive have to do with ability (not everyone can ride a bike to campus) and employment (if you need a vehicle for employment purposes and you need to go from school to work). In short, when fully exploring some of these creative alternative options, some very real social justice concerns come to the surface.
Oh- as an aside, even when parking is free to students, this is STILL somehow a source for significant complaining. I worked on one of the very rare campuses that offered free parking for students. There were ample spaces to accommodate students, faculty, and staff, though naturally some were further from classrooms than others and that was a source of concern (not sure how you solve that and create all that all spaces are equitably spaced from all buildings….). Their other complaint? They wanted covered parking (!?!?!?!?). Seriously. You can probably see why I’m a bit jaded about this whole issue…
One of the interesting points to emerge out of the early readings in Dr Couture's 668 (The Inscrutable Americans is the title of the book) was the ubiquity of the American automobile in the cultural dynamics of our coutnry. There are, perhaps, few things which more embody Americana than the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want. One of the a priori cultural assumptions to appear in Anurag Mathur's book is the fact that, compared to the views of other cultures, we in America often treat our cars as though they were members of our family units! I can understand being jaded about the complaints and excuses of students (and faculty) - but perhaps it helps to understand the cultural assumptions from which they are derived - without our even really knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI myself am disappionted by the cost comparison to accessibility of on-campus parking at most university campuses I have been on - especially considering a recent observation I found in the Chronicle. In Student Affairs our job, though, is to look to the interests of our students and to balance them with institutional imperatives. If a college coach is being paid over a million dollars a year (as six in the NCAA are now according to 'The Chronicle') I would think we would be able to spare a couple-score thousand to make literal physical access to education (ie: parking and - ultimately getting to and from classes) a bit more effective on our campuses. Yes, public transit is a great option - IF the students can afford to live in proximity to the most efficient hubs for their needs. But the simple fact is, public transit in most of America is a long ways from realizing true value (cost and convenience vs. the alternatives - it takes an hour and a half - here in Denver - to make a trip that otherwise takes about 25 minutes in PEAK traffic)- if, in fact, it ever will. The margins simply aren't big enough.
Then there's that cultural factor. We tell students to go to school so they have greater opportunities to succeed in life - but what, in media and culture - has been more emblematic of success than a car? Is this a mixed message that we're sending, then, if our vision of "working towards success" involves compromising on the one symbol of success (or at least access to success) that is most instrinsic to our society?
David Dorr
I sat at a meeting this week specifically on the topic of parking and the groans were shared around the table. This is definitely an ongoing concern every year as more building happens. Perhaps a carless campus? I know this was one of the topics we discussed in my group during our first class. We could think about remote parking and then shuttling folks into campus. More funding, student fees…..
ReplyDeleteI understand students want to bring a car to campus to get around town and especially here to go to the mountains. At the same time, does every 1 person need 1 car? I look to college campuses in Europe and see great transportation and students biking or using other means to get to campus. It may be more the American way of privilege thinking we all need a car in our life than anything else. I use my car about twice a week. One time to drink to UNC for classes and about once a week to the store other than that because of the community I live in I walk or ride my bike.
I find it fascinating when students live on one side of campus and get in their car and drive to the other side for classes. There is no need for this on most campuses when people can walk. We even have a bike library for people to check out bikes for a 2 week period.
This will be an ongoing topic that will not stop until we stop doing what we are currently doing-selling parking passes beyond the spaces we have available-and think about different new options.
As we look to build new housing on-campus underground or garden level parking seems to be out of question and parking garages are thought of as ugly….. Unfortunately space is an issue so if we can’t go under and can’t build over, how do we get around parking issues on our campuses?
First off- thank you, Nelson for reminding us that not all of the "issues" in higher education have to do with scandal, millions of dollars, and theoretical catch-22 topics. Parking seems to be a real, everyday issue that affects students all across the country. I appreciate the input that everyone has put into this conversation (as I was thinking much of what was said), and it's nice to know it's happening all over.
ReplyDeleteI think the largest concept when it comes to Parking Services is the culture we live in. Everyone has had valid points about the expectations of us as Americans and honestly, the expectation is lazy. I have to wonder how often students and/or faculty/staff could walk, ride their bikes, use public transportation, etc. However, that's not the world we live in and Nelson's most valid point is that selling more permits than spaces doesn't seem right.
As a student, I was right there on the "I Hate Parking Services and Everything they Stand for" bandwagon. Since working in my current job, I've learned that on UNC's campus, parking gets very litte (if any?) state funding; therefore, they are striclty revenue-funded by tickets, parking passes, etc. While I do not believe this excuses them from unethical business decisions, it did make me further understand that they, like everyone else on college campuses, are fighting the never-ending balancing-a-budget act.
As I recall a day in August last year, I remember feeling quite upset with Parking Services. I arrived at work, walked into my office and was reminded by a co-worker that today was the first day to display new parking hangtags. Having purchased my permit a month prior, it slipped my mind to hang the new permit. I walked back out to my car only to see I already had a $30 parking violation for not displaying the new tag. What other department on campus is that efficient! Of course I called to plead my case and get out of the fine. They told me I could use my "Oops Card". The Oops Card is a "get out of jail free" card. It forgives one violation per year. I did not want to use my freebee in the first 10 minutes of the new parking year! I argued I already had the new permit, for over a month, but just forgot to display it that morning. They let me off the hook, without using my Oops card, but they were tough!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have had a few disgruntled moments with Parking Services, I have yet to be denied a parking space on campus. On a few occasions, I have had to walk about fifty steps further from another lot during a special event.
I have had the opportunity to work with Parking Services for different reasons. Each time a new building is built and a parking lot changes, Parking Services calls Disability Support Services to verify the number, size, and location of new accessible parking spots. They are always conscious of where the curb cuts are in relation to the accessible spots.
They have called to confirm new ADA codes for signage, color, and striping before a lot project begins.
Most impressive was the call I received from Parking Services to verify appropriate language for new signage, parking brochures, and website information. This is the first call I have ever received about using appropriate language in regard to disability issues.
Signage and information should use the term "accessible", not disabled, and certainly not "handicap" which originates from a person with a disability having a "cap in the hand" as a beggar or homeless unemployed person.
The new signage and information at UNC now uses the term "accessible". So, give the people at Parking Services a little break for having the forethought and conscientiousness to think about the appropriate use of language in regard to those who require use of accessible parking.
I agree with you that parking problem is one of the problems that students are suffering from at the university; especially, that there is a tendency to increase the proportion of admissions at the university because this will help to increase income and an increase in students numbers which means an increase in faculty and administrative staff. If now it is not enough, so, what about the future? Therefore, we must rebuild our building to accommodate everyone in the future for students and.
ReplyDeleteI think we can find a solution for this problem by cutting off a part of the green areas in front of each building and change them into parking area, so we can help students to park free without harming the environment. Also, we can save water, electricity, and maintenance expenses. Instead we can provide some parking with affordable prices near the students’ departments as a new source of income.
As I understand it, parking permits are an opt-in kind of thing. I have to admit that had I purchased one, I would be livid if I could not find parking when I have allowed a reasonable amount of time prior to the start of my work-day, or class. It seems that selling more parking permits than spaces is almost a necessity, though. The time and energy that it would take to manage a system that accounted for student course schedules and available spots at that time would be tremendous. It is difficult to expect colleges to provide a space for every permit, as spots would surely be left empty because students are on different schedules.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think is unbelievable is that some colleges charge a parking fee to all students, even those who have no interest in driving to campus because they live close or have elected to utilize public transportation. As college costs continue to rise, it is time for colleges to start looking at ways to alleviate additional fees. The issue becomes then that the college would be left to absorb the cost of providing an opt-out system. This would require purchasing parking permits and finding staff to administer the program. I suspect that this is why it is just easier to pass the cost along to students. It may seem like a small fee to some, but small charges add up, and students do notice.
Clark Kerr (former chancellor of the University of California system and all-around big name in higher education), once said, “ I find the three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.” I suspect there is a great deal of truth in this humorous statement.
ReplyDeleteI have been fortunate to have worked at 2 institutions with free parking and at both many complained about the ability to find spots or having to walk more than 200 yards from their car to the building. I have also worked at an institution that experimented with off-campus lots/shuttling, which did not turn out well because people expect the shuttle to depart the second they get on. Part of the issue is that everyone believes (rightly) that he/she has a justifiable reason for having access to convenient and affordable parking that permits him or her to arrive ‘just-in-time’. Presidents, Board members, faculty, administrators, students, and visitors all want reserved spaces or areas because they all feel 1) what they do is more important than what others do, or 2) they have somehow already paid for the privilege and are owed.
One way institutions approach the problem is by having committees (because few people want to me known as the person who made the parking situation worse) develop seemingly rational models about where certain people may park and at what cost. A quick examination of who may use specific parking lots and their proximity to particular buildings can often shed light on the composition of the committee.
This is an interesting post relating to a topic I wrote about the first week. The University of Utah cancelled all their afternoon classes on a Friday so there would be enough parking for the game. i've been visiting the University of Iowa a lot recently, and the campus has NO parking lots. People are on waiting lists for years to get parking passes for the few lots they do have that hold about 20 cars. If first year students bring cars, they have to park in the Hawk Lot then take a 15 minute bus ride back to campus. Everyone utilizes public transportation, and you can't even park on the street overnight without getting ticketed.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue at instituions like UNC where we make parking "available" is that Parking Services oversells the amount of parking spots we have compared to how many passes were sold. I can rarely find parking on Central Campus, and it's nearly impossible to find a decent spot during the day if you don't have a parking pass. For students who commute or live further away from campus, it creates a problem. Public transportation in Greeley isn't excessive, and can often put you 30-60 minutes behind schedule. It also only reaches a small part of the city.
I guess I have no answer for schools like UNC. I support the use of public transportation having to do it so much while I was abroad, but when it's not always the easiest or safest way to travel, especially later, I would hope that there are more forms of transportation or parking available in the near future.
Braelin, I appreciate your perspective on the fact that, even when the parking is free, students find a reason to complain.
ReplyDeleteI think that the use of public transportation is something to be encouraged. The parking issues on multiple campuses are a demonstration of that need. But I also disagree with the way that some try to make it so uncomfortable that they have no choice but to take public transportation.
When I lived/worked in Boulder. I found that the city itself adopted the philosophy that if we make the parking spots really small, it will influence people not to buy SUVs. Boulder was also a fan of making sure the lanes were too narrow for any vehicle other than a Prius...or a suburu outback if you dared drive a non-hybrid. By repeatedly eliminating parking on campus, they hoped people would take busses more often.
My point is that squeezing out the parking spaces is not going to create the change of getting people to use public transportation. It will just make them more angry. I think institutions should look at a balanced approach to realistically solving parking problems but also educating people on the benefits of RTD. As a regular bus rider myself (woo hoo! 86X!) I love the convenience it provides. But on the days I need to drive to work, I want a space big enough for my cute little Ford Escape. Is that too much to ask?