Campus center changes parking dynamics for students, faculty

By Monica Kreber

kreberm@thejohnsonian.com

Students and faculty are feeling the effects of parking lot changes. Campus center staff members are now parking in the lots on either side of the center, changing the dynamics, said Campus Police Chief Frank Zebedis. Photo by Kathleen Brown • brownk@thejohnsonian.comFaculty members and commuter students say they have found some difficulty parking within reasonable walking distances on campus this semester.

Campus Police converted the parking lot at Founders Lane and Alumni Drive to a faculty-and-staff-only lot 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Students and faculty received a priority e-mail from Campus Police on Aug. 24 informing them about the change.

“It is very important that all students remove their vehicles from this lot as soon as possible,” Campus Police Chief Frank Zebedis wrote in the e-mail.

Junior biology major Allyson Schaeffer said she usually does not have a problem getting a parking spot in the commuter lot at Dinkins.
 
She starts class at 9:30 a.m., and the lot is usually somewhat empty, she said.

Then, last Thursday afternoon, she was late to work at the West Center because she decided to drive that day. (She said she usually rides her bike to work.) She tried to get a spot in the lot by Johnson but it was full, so she went to Dinkins.

About 10 other cars were circling the lot trying to find a spot, too, but the whole lot was packed. She ended up parking illegally in a visitor’s spot and received a ticket.

This past Monday she was late for work again when she had to park in Legion lot.

 “That lot is so full compared to last year,” she said. “Usually just two or three rows used to be full, but now it goes back more than six rows it seems.”

Schaeffer said, in essence, parking gets difficult depending on the time of day.

Each parking space on campus is designated for either commuters, residents, faculty/staff, or visitors. However, some faculty/staff spaces are available for anyone to use during certain times. Photo by Kathleen Brown • brownk@thejohnsonian.com“Because of this, I’m finding myself having to stay on campus all day or ride my bike a lot,” she said.

Despite Schaeffer’s claim, Zebedis said even though there seems to be more vehicular traffic on campus, ample parking spaces still exist.

“Every day, I drive by the Legion lot and see that it remains half empty,” he said. “Therefore, I can’t say we are experiencing parking issues.”

Zebedis said there are 1,764 resident and Courtyard parking space available on campus.

In addition to those spaces, there are 733 commuter spaces, 131 visitor spaces, 91 disabled, 82 reserved and 77 faculty and staff spaces.

Zebedis also said Winthrop made some parking changes over the summer to help with the opening of the Campus Center; the campus now provides more visitor spaces around McBryde and the West Center to accommodate visitors coming to the Campus Center and the book store. Visitor parking is only available to those persons not affiliated with Winthrop so therefore, students, faculty and staff are not permitted to use the visitor spaces.

“As I say every year, the problem isn’t the number of spaces,” he said. “The problem is that people don’t like where they are expected to park.”

Some adjustments also had to be made with the closure of Phelps for the school year, Zebedis said. Traffic increased around Roddey Apartments to accommodate closing Phelps down; the Stewart lot on Stewart Avenue has been made into both a residential and commuter parking lot. Also, the Johnson lot now opens up to all Winthrop permits after 5 p.m., however, at 7 a.m. the lot reverts back to faculty/staff parking.

Mass communication professor Haney Howell, whose office is in Johnson, said if someone is not in a Johnson parking spot by 9 a.m. they will be parking in the street.

“There were problems at the start, but I think they’ll clear up once the gravel lot is finished,” Howell said.

Faculty and staff who once worked in Dinkins and have been relocated to the campus center have now elected to use the Johnson lot or the gravel lot at Founders and Alumni for parking, Zebedis said.

“We never dictate which lot you park in as long as the lot you choose coincides with the permit on your vehicle,” Zebedis said.

Zebedis also said he thinks students will understand the parking situation better over time.

“The first couple weeks of classes parking seems to be an issue,” Zebedissaid, “but when people find all the lots and become familiar with the rules, it seems to calm down and it all works out.”

After 5 p.m., many faculty and staff parking spots open for resident and commuter student use.

Zebedis said he encourages students and faculty to familiarize themselves with the parking rules and regulations and view the parking map that is on the Campus Police Web site.