Fairfield’s chronic parking problems have finally caught the attention of university officials, but the “build nothing near my house” trend from local residents has hurt the university’s efforts to increase on-campus parking, according to officials who say they cannot expand adult education programs without more parking.
“I am frustrated by the overall lack of parking,” said Kyle Murray ’04. “Security insists on giving out unnecessary tickets that can’t be appealed, but it doesn’t seem like they are trying to fix the situation.”
Fairfield is having difficulties persuading the neighbors that additional parking is necessary and will not disturb the peace of the neighborhood.
It is the nature of campus to be residential, according to Martha Milcarek, assistant vice president for public relations.
Fairfield was able to build one new lot this year in front of Dolan Hall but with restricted use.
The lot can only be used by faculty and must be closed nights and weekends. They are locked at 10 p.m. and are reopened around 6:30 a.m., according to Ficko. The university needs to obtain special permission to use the lot for planned events, according to Milcarek.
Meanwhile, students complained that parking on campus is a problem.
“I leave for class at a sufficient time and have difficulty finding parking in Bannow,” said Anna Punzalan ’04. “Lack of parking makes me late for class”, said Anna Punzalan ’04.
Parking related problems have been reduced since Sept. ’03, according to Mary Ann DeMasi, the operations assistant in security, who confirmed that vehicle registration has not increased over the past few years.
Although students remain frustrated by parking far from their destinations, Frank Ficko, associate director of security, guaranteed that there is enough parking for every registered vehicle.
“I will always guarantee a legal parking space for every legal car on campus,” said Ficko. “It will not always be convenient.”
According to Catherine O’Donnell, director of marketing, the university plans to offer more classes geared towards graduate and continuing education programs, but these programs cannot expand adult education programs without more parking availability.
The university plans to offer more classes geared towards graduate programs, continuing education and senior citizens, O’Donnell said.
Currently there are 1,725 cars registered for adult students, said DeMasi. Adults may register more than one car at a time, so the number of registered cars does not reflect the number of cars on campus on a given day.
The three remaining populations that make-up parking are faculty and staff, undergraduates, and Fairfield Prep students. This accounts for 3,393 parking stickers, said DeMasi. There are approximately 3,000 spaces available on campus, according to DeMasi.
The University Strategic Marketing Committee is actively working on the parking problem, said O’Donnell. The committee is comprised of four ad hoc committees, who are each look at parking issues. The committee seeks creative solutions to the parking problem.
Some alternatives include increased on campus transportation, limiting parking lotteries or increasing vehicle registration fees to deter an increase in registrants.
Other colleges who also face a parking problem have thought of some other solutions that may influence Fairfield, said O’Donnell. One idea was a gated lot that would only permit students to park during class hours. Another idea was valet parking for graduate students.
O’Donnell said while these ideas are expensive, there are more economical solutions. The Strategic Marketing Committee thought of enforcing a policy of “flex time” for employees who alter their working hours from 8-4 p.m., instead of 8:30-4:30 p.m. This allows for more parking availability during graduate class time, which typically begins in the afternoon, said O’Donnell.
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