Enraged. Frustrated. Confused.
Parking has never been fun at Fairfield University and with many the changes made for this fall, students are less than enthused. Although students have now had some time to adjust to the changes, there is no shortage of complaints.
“I think it is unfair that the school made the changes limiting the amount of people who can park near Claver,” Kerri Donovan ’11 said.
“I understand that it was first come first serve for stickers, but they did a poor job of communicating this directly to the students. Posting it on Students 411 for a week over the summer is not a valiant effort by the school to fairly educate everyone about the parking changes,” Donovan added.
Katie Caban ’11 agrees.
“They should open the Quick Center lot to offer more parking because no matter what people are still going to park there,” Caban said.
“We are already paying for a meal plan, room and board but now we have to pay for the tickets to walk all across campus to get to our cars and we have to walk all the way to the townhouses since they don’t offer any sort of transportation.”
What exactly are the changes?
The complaints stem from elimination of sophomore parking, increase in the price of parking registration, and tighter restrictions on exactly where students are permitted to park.
The option for sophomore parking did exist last year. This year, sophomores are clearly upset they are not permitted to park on campus, particularly in light of the fact that many students see that the Quick Center parking lot, which is off limit to students, is frequently empty.
“I think it is unfair that at the age of 20 we are not allowed to have our cars on campus for an unreasonable excuse. It’s evident there is enough parking or parking could be easily accommodated with a new lot,” Annaliese Reynolds ’12 said.
Further dissatisfaction exists among students who do have the proper sticker for the Claver parking lot, but cannot park there because it is often times full.
Another point of contention stems form the fact that spots in the Claver parking lot were given on a first come, first serve basis and those juniors living in Claver who did not register in time were forced to register their cars to the Jogues lot.
Additional complaints stem from the price increase in parking registration, from $60 last year to $80 this year.
“It sucks. There’s no reason for it to be increased since the school is so wealthy. Where does the money even go?” Daniel Pratt ’11 said.
“We just want answers”
Fairfield University officials say they have good answers for all the questions and complaints.
Director of Public Safety Todd Pelazza put an end to rumors of future on-campus parking for sophomores.
“There are not plans to have sophomores be able to have cars on campus,” he said.
Students are oftentimes skeptical as to where exactly the money demanded for registration and tickets goes.
“All money generated from vehicle registration and tickets goes into the University General Fund,” Pelazza said.
Pelazza continued by explaining the rationale behind the new restrictions on students parking at the Quick Center.
“This lot [Quick Center lot] was originally designed for event parking at the Quick Center. With the elimination of sophomore parking, the lot was restored to the original design,” Pelazza explained in an e-mail.
Of complaints concerning the restrictions on the Quick Center lot, FUSA President Jeff Seiser offers a response as well.
He said, “The University is trying to be more welcoming to the community” by ensuring there are always spots for people visiting the Quick Center.
The cost of parking registration this year is $80. According to the American University website, one which could be considered a peer institution to Fairfield University, the rate for a Student Resident Parking Permit for the Academic year, effective May 2010, will be $964.
Rosie Mathis ’11 said, “We are lucky compared to other schools.”
Mathis and FUSA Vice President Lauren Johnson ’11said, in comparison to other schools, Fairfield students have a shorter walk to get to their cars. Similarly, at other universities, “the closer you want to be to your car, the more you have to pay,” Johnson said.
“If you are going to do something, do it right”
The changes in the parking system were preceded by a parking study performed by the consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
The firm’s report, which is summarized on the Fairfield University Currents Online Edition, found that at Fairfield, the ratio of parking spots per student is ‘notably higher’ than at peer institutions, while in many cases the vehicle registration is markedly lower. The firm offered numerous recommendations such as limiting faculty and staff parking, not permitting sophomores to park on campus anymore, and increasing the registration fee.
The University is facing a reduced budget in light of the current economic crisis, and in response they were forced to make the changes aforementioned. If you are going to do something, do it right, Seiser said.
As the University is forced to reduce the budget, Seiser explained how there is a great need to understand that there is a give and take. In order to oblige as many people as possible with financial aid, Seiser said we must be strategic.
There is a “change of culture” taking place on campus, Seiser explained. The university is trying to make it a “green friendly walking campus,” he said.
The changes introduced this fall are just the beginning of what is soon to come to the Fairfield University campus.
“It is all part of stage two of the development changes,” Mathis said.
“Eventually the traffic circle in front of the BCC will be completely gone…all parking will be on the outskirts of campus.”
The parking spots that night and graduate students typically park in, located in the Regis lot, were commonly filled with sophomore drivers in the past. The University is now attempting to build the night and graduate population by ensuring that they now will always have somewhere to park.
An additional initiative put into place to accommodate students who may have gotten the short end of the stick for parking, is the Connect by Hertz rental program. An email correspondence between Seiser and Mike Tortora, Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, displayed the success of the system for the month of September.
Seiser dictated the report from Tortora: there are 4 rental cars available, 196 students enrolled, 103 reservations were made, 446 hours were used, and 3,700 miles have been traveled.
Further efforts are being made to accommodate students without cars in terms of the off campus shuttle. Michael Hosang, employee of J&R Tours, drives the off campus shuttle and was able to offer some insight. He said that the bus is nearly full on Fridays.
Hosang said that Saturdays have a 38-40-seater bus, larger than the weekly 25-seater bus.
According to the University Off-Campus Bus Schedule, this larger Saturday shuttle goes to the complex on Black Rock with Old Navy and several other stores, the Trumbull Mall, and the movie theater in the evening.
Seiser also said that the drivers keep a log of how many students are on the bus and at what times in an effort to evaluate what times are being utilized the most. Thus preparing the administration to have statistics for further enhancements to student activities and facilities.
The University could spend more on parking, but in light of the current economic crisis, it Fairfield would have to give some things up to make room for other necessities. “What do you want to cut?” Seiser asks, “What are you willing to give up?”
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