DiGiorgio OK’s more student parking

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

President also responds to splinter student group’s concerns, offers updates on College Town Action Plan

President Anthony DiGiorgio has signed off on possibly adding five new, short term parking spaces for students in the gravel parking lot slated to provide foundation for a new library.

The news came Monday when, during the Council of Student Leaders’ meeting, CSL Chair Kambrell Garvin told members that he and Vice Chair Kaitlin Sapp met with DiGiorgio last week and advocated that the gravel lot be used for student parking.

“We don’t think it’s fair to have you park in Dinkins or Legion [Lot] to check your mail,” Garvin said.

Currently, faculty and staff members use this lot.

The lot will maintain faculty and staff spaces, and will be used for “overflow” when the Margaret Nance lot is closed, DiGiorgio said in an e-mail.

The parking spots will be “short term,” Garvin told members, and only available for students to use in 20- 30 minute increments. It’s main purpose will be to give students temporary parking while visiting the campus center, checking mail or running quick errands.

Though new parking spaces may be a breath of fresh air for many, Garvin did issue a warning.

“We can’t abuse it,” he said. 

No clear timetable is in the works yet and the project is still in the possibility stage.

Campus Police will conduct a count over the next two to three weeks of overall space usage in the gravel lot, said Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs. 

From there, they will determine what “peak usage times” are available in the lot. 

All new designations will probably be installed in October, Masters said. 

The only costs involved are for signage, Masters said, but the university keeps signs on backstock.

Any additional costs will be absorbed into existing university budgets, she said. 

As for a new library, the wait is still on.

Thanks to the lagging state of the economy, lawmakers in Columbia do not predict issuing a statewide bond bill for new construction is likely in the near term, Masters said.

“…And legislators want to be sure that such a bill won’t be vetoed by the governor before they embark on creating one,” Masters said. “For that reason, Winthrop is moving forward with the adaption of existing space in Dacus Library to better accommodate current student needs.” 

The  $2.6 million bonds Winthrop’s Board of Trustees approved in August come from the university’s own bond capacity, she said.

During their meeting with DiGiorgio, Garvin and Sapp also received an update on the College Town Action Plan, an effort by Rock Hill city and business leaders and Winthrop to transform Rock Hill into a  more college-friendly city.

The initiative is not stalled, Garvin said. In fact, project officials are moving ahead with a plan to widen White Street and work on sidewalks. 

Once Winthrop employees make claim on the Rock Hill Operations Center, a thoroughfare that connects Legion Lot with Columbia Avenue and diverts traffic from Cherry Road will be added.

Students will no longer have to walk to Cherry Road, then back down Alumni Drive to visit the DiGiorgio Campus Center or Owens Hall, Garvin said in an e-mail.

The construction should be complete by next semester.

The president’s office also responded to one student group’s protests.

Last semester, students upset with not receiving an invitation to DiGiorgio’s April address to faculty joined forces to form TSA (Think! Speak! Act!). The new student group held a rally on the steps of Byrnes Auditorium on Study Day in an effort to garner student support while fielding suggestions to the university.

Among concerns about rising tuition and DiGiorgio’s salary, students suggested the university initiate a gainsharing program that would reward individual students with savings earned from any cost-saving measures they suggested. They also inquired about possibly cutting off all academic building lights overnight.

In response to those particular concerns, university officials explained that shutting off all lighting in office buildings overnight is prohibited by state and federal fire and safety codes in public buildings, which include academic buildings. 

Officials explained that due to “the interrelated nature of university departments, programs and facilities,” it would be hard to gauge the long-term savings “related to any one suggestion,” the report said. 

 An alternative is available through Presidential Citations, which awards Winthrop faclty and staff who “go above and beyond” their regular job duties.

Money is not a part of these rewards. 

After presenting the report, Garvin encouraged members of CSL to read through it and brainstorm on any ideas they may be able to implement into actual committee agendas.