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15,491 parking permits for 10,209 spaces compounds problems in getting to class this week
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008
Lesley Phelps was psyched up for her Nursing of the Childbearing Family class at the University of Akron on Monday.
But after two hours of driving around three filled parking decks and two filled parking lots, she abandoned her quest.
''My blood pressure was going through the roof,'' the Akron resident said. ''I spent 20 minutes trying to get out of one parking deck. People were cutting each other off. They were parking on the curb.''
Perhaps even more unnerving was the suggestion from the instructor of her class, whom she reached by e-mail: Circumvent parking problems by getting to campus at 8:30 a.m. for the 9:55 a.m. class.
A growth in enrollment and shortage of parking spaces have compounded parking problems at the urban university.
While parking has always been a challenge on the first few days of classes, students say this week has been especially brutal.
Not only did enrollment at the predominantly commuter campus grow by 6.1 percent, but the university issued 15,491 student parking permits for 10,209 student parking spaces.
That is about 250 permits more than the university issued last fall, while the number of spaces stayed ''about the same,'' UA spokesman Ken Torisky said.
At the same time, the university implemented a new transportation policy, although it's unclear how it affects parking.
Last year, UA charged $110 a semester to students who wanted a parking permit. Not all students bought parking permits.
In place of that, UA now charges a mandatory transportation fee of $115 a semester to fund a fleet of shuttle buses that ferry students, faculty and staff in and around campus and for the construction and maintenance of parking facilities.
All students who take more than five credit hours pay the fee, which automatically entitles them to a permit to park their vehicle in a designated lot. There is no separate parking fee.
In other words, since they have to pay for the parking permit anyway, some students have suggested they might as well drive to campus rather than walk or take a bus.
Torisky didn't know if that was happening or if students would be continuing to obtain parking permits as the semester progresses.
''We will be talking to students throughout the semester about the parking issues on campus and we will adjust accordingly,'' he said by e-mail.
One thing is clear: The new transportation policy will be producing more money for the university — about $2.3 million this fall compared with about $1.6 million last fall.
Phelps, the nursing student, said she didn't want to face the same gridlock when she goes to class today.
So she said she will beat her faculty member's suggestion and get to class at 8 a.m., almost two hours before the class is to begin.
She said she'd rather do that than do what her girlfriend did — park illegally and risk getting a ticket.
''She said the ticket would be worth it if she could get to class,'' Phelps said.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
Lesley Phelps was psyched up for her Nursing of the Childbearing Family class at the University of Akron on Monday.
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