SGA to petition university president to increase on-campus parking
The Student Government Association Governmental Affairs sub-committee has created a petition asking for more parking spaces on campus.
Governmental Affairs Chairman Sam McNerney said once the online petition reaches 1,000 signatures it will be delivered to President George Ross. The intention is to communicate to the administration how students on campus feel about the ratio of parking spots to students.
“Our hope is that (through this survey) we will at least be able to convince the administration that something needs to be done or at least to have them look at (the parking problem) a little bit deeper,” McNerney said. “Right now (administration) hasn’t been looking at it very closely.”
The petition asks whether or not students have passes or use meters, and if that factors into making them late for class. Other questions include how often students search to find a parking spot, and how many tickets they accumulated as a result.
McNerney said he would want to see a parking garage installed on campus or even a reworking of commuter lots to accommodate overflow traffic.
“We talked to (university) administration and (SGA) was told ‘we’ve reviewed CMU’s parking and there’s ample parking on campus,' which students don’t agree with,”McNerney said. “What (Governmental Affairs) decided to do was to conduct a survey all across campus about parking so we can gauge what students say about parking.”
Although the student feedback about parking availability has been largely negative, McNerney said he intends to continue the survey. The more signatures Governmental Affairs can deliver to administrators the better, he said.
“We want to get a good sample of the student population that we could present to the administration so that we can say ‘you’re saying one thing but the students clearly don’t see that,’” McNerney said.
Port Huron junior Mae Overholt said the petition is a great idea.
A student who has dealt with both metered parking and investing in a parking pass, Overhold said she does not notice a difference in time efficiency between the two.
“I know 11 a.m. is a really bad time to find a spot and by 2 p.m., the whole campus is pretty much a zoo with pedestrians and drivers,” Overholt said. “Sometimes you have to park really far away and sprint to class.”
Overholt said adding parking garages could offer more spaces on campus.
“There seems to be more students than cars and not enough spaces,” Overholt said. “I know at MSU they have parking garages here and there around campus so I don’t know if it’d be beneficial to (CMU) to also invest in a parking garage for (students), but it would be nice.”
Kim Speet, manager of Parking Services, said that despite backlash from students, the 11,301 parking spaces and 15 commuter lots are more than enough for students with cars on campus.
It is out of Parking Services’ control, she said, whether or not students can find ample parking in time for class.
“We’re always looking to improve parking and see if there are different things that we can do to help students,” Speet said. “I’m always looking for additional places to put metered spaces. If a student uses meters we cannot control availability of parking,” she said. “In the long run (buying a pass) is cheaper than using the meters.”
SGA’s survey includes an open comment section for students to air their grievances on their own parking predicament.
If the petition reaches 1,000 signatures, McNerney said that the plan is to compile all of the data acquired and format it into a presentation for Ross.
Individuals interested in signing the petition can find it at surveymonkey.com/s/SGAParking.
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