The top 5 complaints from college students across the country revolve around:
- The cost of college (a topic of a future series of VP blog posts)
- Cafeteria food quality
- Large classes
- Getting the classes needed to graduate
- PARKING
This might not be the order that you would use, and I know that some students, faculty and staff would have PARKING as the #1 complaint about OSU-Cascades. There likely isn’t any comfort in knowing that you are not alone, and that parking consistently ranks within the top 5 of student complaints at Universities across the country. So – let’s get real about parking.
Tell me you don’t like parking without telling me you don’t like parking. I’ll go first:
Yes, even I get parking tickets. And yes, I pay them like everyone else.
I went to the University of Southern California in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Being in downtown LA with a car was a nightmare. Parking was outrageously hard to find and wildly expensive. I learned to parallel park in some of the tightest spaces you can imagine – a skill that serves me well to this day. I have watched meters elapse, received (and paid) tickets, and probably came pretty close to getting a boot put on my tire. I’ve had parking tickets all my academic career even as a Department Chair at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. I parked one-millimeter onto (not over) a painted line on the ground because the car already parked in the adjacent space was parked over (way over) the line. “What fresh nightmare is this?,” I thought as an employee of the institution that I was paying to park at. I get that parking is a pain and seems needlessly expensive.
Let’s focus on one aspect and a question that I get a lot about parking on campus:
Why can’t we just add parking fees to student fees or tuition so that students don’t have to deal with it every day?
Let me answer that the long way around.
I’m on my way to the grocery store this evening, actually right when I’m done writing this. That got me to thinking. How does Safeway up Century Blvd. provide such nice parking for the whole big cost of FREE. You might see where I’m going with this. The answer…THEY DON’T. The cost associated with the parking lot at the grocery store (any business really) is simply put into the cost of the products in the store. What parking costs can there be for a grocery store like that. Well, the two biggest costs to operating a parking lot in Central Oregon are maintenance and (drum roll) snow removal. Repaving, re-striping, and removing the snow are what drive costs. There are also costs associated with maintaining the trees and bushes to make the lot look nice and comply with City code. These are the biggest costs for us at OSU-Cascades as well. (I’m not picking on Safeway – all businesses need to do this, of course.)
Unlike the grocery store, we ask only those that use the parking lots to pay for that use. The grocery store has a model by which everyone that enters the store pays for the parking lot. Think about those that are housed in the new apartment building across the street. They don’t pay less for apples because they walk to the store, but shouldn’t they? OSU-Cascades’ model allows for that. What if someone decides to park a block away to avoid the parking fee at the grocery store? Same price for apples – that’s what. At OSU-Cascades we simply ask those that use the service to pay for that use. That seems fair.
Therefore, when the questions come up about adding parking into student fees or into tuition, these are the reasons we won’t do that. We simply cannot spread out the parking fees to those that don’t use the service.
I know there are logistical issues with longer term permits, with fees associated with the app, with residential student parking, and other pain points. We will get to those and address them as we continue throughout our March Madness of Parking. As always, STAY TUNED.
Life is a journey, but don’t worry, you’ll find a parking spot at the end.
Issac Asimov
What’s my superpower? Parallel parking without a doubt.
Dr. K
CATEGORIES: Student Feedback Uncategorized
4 thoughts on “Let’s Talk About Parking (Parking Blog #1)”
Would parking passes, similar to what is offered at COCC, be an option? Something to be added optionally to student fees for the students that want it?
I will look into this. Thank you for the suggestion.
I will look into this. Thank you for the suggestion.
Students are already paying astronomical amounts in tuition and fees. Parking should be free, much less rolled into tuition payments. Charging tuition paying students for parking is another thinly veiled cash grab by a greedy institution.