Of all the complaints heard from students parking has to be one of the most frequent. As Lindenwood’s student population swells, the number of open spots will continue to shrink, leading many students to park in the far corners of campus or refuse to leave during the peak hours of the day.
In past years students have addressed parking concerns by frequenting unmarked and prohibited parking locations. Beginning in the spring semester of ’10 and continuing over with new Security Director Kurt Smith, the university has been amping up its parking enforcement to cut down on these violators.
Smith said, “(Dean of Students) Terry Russell and I talked when I came onboard, and one of the issues was a lack of (parking) enforcement.”
Smith, who was hired to the position over the summer, has instituted a three strike policy that gives students a warning on the first offence, then a boot and on the third violation the vehicle is subject to impounding.
“Everyone has really gotten the message.” Smith said.
In the fall of 2009 the university issued 224 citations, in the spring of 2010 490 were written. Under Smith’s direction 205 parking violations have been issued as of September.
With security cracking down on illegal parking many students and faculty are forced to park in the lots far away from the center of campus such as those by Harmon Hall and the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.
“I live on the Heritage side of campus and walk to class because it’s impossible to find a spot if I go to lunch and come back,” said senior Tiffany Sellech.
“Last year was really annoying, but this year is just ridiculous,” said Val Krause, a campus resident. “During the week it is nearly impossible to find a spot on campus. “
“We’ve identified places to park.” Smith said. “People just don’t want to go walk that far.”
Smith lists the recently repaved lot across from the Spirit Shoppe and the Cultural Center as usually having open spots.
Along with students many faculty also find issues with parking.
Ed Voss, Assistant Professor of Communication, said “Parking in the Heritage part of campus is really tough. I think they should raise the parking fee and build a parking garage.”
Assistant Professor Erica Blum said, “Because Spellmann is a hubbub it makes it extra hard for everybody. They should make other sections at busy areas for staff and commuter parking and have someone police the area to ticket those people that shouldn’t be there.”
Faculty parking, currently not available at Lindenwood, is present at several area universities. Maryville University has five separate lots designated for faculty. Washington University offers their faculty the ability to buy parking passes. These passes, sold for $1,047, allow staff to park in specified zones during the daytime hours.
Though parking passes are normal for colleges, their costs vary by institution. Lindenwood’s student parking passes cost $2 for a resident and $3 for a commuter. Both Maryville and St. Charles Community College (SCC) have parking figured into the total tuition cost. At St. Louis University the lots are broken up based on distance from campus. Depending on which lot a student chooses, a parking pass ranges from $280 to $1,410 a year.
The public safety offices of both Maryville and SCC said they often receive complaints from students regarding parking. Both said that despite the claims that parking is tight there are always lots at the fringes of campus with spots available.
Smith predicts that after Christmas break there will be a new surge of violations, which will renew concerns over the parking situation. It is clear that as the number of cars on campus continues to increase so will student frustration.
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