By Kayla Williams / News Reporter

ST. CLOUD, Minn– Parking on campus is meant to minimize stress and create a balance for those who claim their right to park there. Others think differently and see parking as a strategic inconvenience.

Public Safety Director of Parking, Safety, Risk, and Emergency Management Kevin Hammond, who oversees parking regulations and policies, says the parking system is structured to provide a balance of revolving cost, time, space, and safety to maintain accessibility on campus. 

“We have students, staff, and visitors who all need to access campus facilities,” Hammond said, “So we try to balance the number of spaces and how they’re used.”

Staff Sergeant Olivia Witt with Public Safety added that parking is only a small part of their responsibilities.

“We deal with everything from trespassing individuals, ensuring safety on campus, patrolling buildings, and helping with things like vehicle jumpstarts,” Witt said. “Parking is actually a very small part of what we do.”

Timing and Permit

Parking spaces are divided among students, staff, and the public by area. There’s also a parking ramp for all groups if needed. 

Parking expectations are set up to be simple, said Hammond, “A lot of our structure is based on people coming to campus, parking their car, and then going to do what they need to do,” he said.

According to the SCSU website, after 4:30 p.m., the campus offers free parking to non-permit holders near the main campus, including C lot by the Stateview apartments and V lot near Barden Park. While permit holders, who pay an estimated $340, get rights to park in the lot they paid for, along with additional perks after 3 p.m.

“If you’ve got a permit, after 3 o’clock you can pretty much park in any permit lot,” Hammond said, “And there are some lots that are free in the evenings and on weekends.”

Witt confirmed that many students are unaware of this rule.

“A lot of people don’t know that after 3 p.m., you can park in other permit lots,” Witt said.

Hammond added that the permit is most cost-effective for frequent campus users, saying more than 7 hours on campus becomes the better financial choice.

Gianni Harrington, a graduate student who prefers they/them pronouns, told KVSC, “A lot of events and classes happen between 10 and 2,” they said. “Free parking after three sounds good, but that’s not when most students need it.”

Hammond noted that parking requests are high during the day and that space limitations pose challenges.

“Everybody wants to park as close as possible to where they’re going,” he said. “But we have a limited number of spaces, especially in the center of campus.”

Opinion of cost

With parking permit options available, some students and staff believe they’re too expensive. Harrington said they don’t have a parking pass because of the price.

“As a student, I’d rather put my money toward other things I need for school,” Harrington said.

That being said, Harrington relies on minute-to-hourly parking or off-campus spaces.

“I typically park in the four-hour spots or the 30-minute parking and just move my car,” they said. “It’s about three hours’ worth of time if I do it right.” 

Harrington considers their approach to parking requires planning during busy hours because their typical parking spot is everyone else’s typical spot as well.

With passes not being purchased due to cost, and instead using the meter or free parking spots, it can actually become more cost-effective depending on your circumstances on campus.

Witt said that meter parking can become more expensive over time.

“It might seem cheaper to pay for a meter, but it adds up really fast,” Witt said. “I did the math once, and it came out to around $2,000 compared to just a few hundred dollars for a permit.

Inconveniences 

Parking policy is straightforward and strict about violations, such as expired permits or time limits.

“We try to make the rules very black and white… Either you comply, or you’re not.” Hammond said.

Harrington, on the other side, has a bit of a disagreement about how straightforward public safety actually is. 

“My worst experience was when they towed my car, and the campus didn’t even know where it was,” they said. “I had to call different tow companies to figure it out myself.”

However, Harrington also received smaller citations, such as parking a foot too close to the curb, which would cause a citation, they said. 

Hammond’s response to situations like this is that students can go and appeal those citations via an independent process.

“We try to look at the behavior and the situation, not the person,” he said. “There are cases where people make honest mistakes, and those are considered.”

From an enforcement perspective, Witt said many citations come from students choosing not to pay for meters.

Communication issues

Hammond said some issues come from things such as miscommunication, along with misinformation being transferred throughout campus.

“One of the biggest issues we see is people asking someone else where to park and getting bad information,” he said.

Witt also shared her own experience with common parking mistakes.

“I got a ticket before I worked here,” Witt said. “I didn’t know where to park and didn’t read the sign because I was in a rush.”

Public safety updates and shares information through newsletters, emails, and on their website. However, Hammond said students may not look at those.

The situation involving Harrington reflects Hammond’s points, where relying more on trial and error than on the provided help goes in line with the flow.

“You just figure it out,” Harrington said. “That’s what most of us are doing,”  is how they described it.

Witt said students missing information often comes down to not checking those updates.

“If you don’t check your email, you might miss important parking information,” she said.

Parking changes

Public safety higher-ups may shift the parking system, though it is not confirmed.

“There’s been discussion about making parts of campus more pedestrian-focused,” Hammond said.

Meanwhile, students like Harrington want changes like free parking during peak hours. 

“I’d like to see it be free, or at least free during part of the day,” Harrington said. “That’s when most students are actually here.”

For now, parking at SCSU remains to balance itself out, with where policy and lived experience don’t always align.