CHRIS SEGAL
News Editor
Students with more than three parking violations since Fall 2004 were served with a letter from Public Safety to call attention to the university’s parking policies. The auto-generated letter warns students that parking violations can lead to further disciplinary actions.
The letter was part of the university’s expectations regarding student conduct that includes following the rules of campus roads, according to the author of the letter and the Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety Dawn Emrich.
“The purpose of our letter is that students with multiple number of violations uses the opportunity to adjust their parking practices before it becomes a more serious problem for them,” Emrich said.
Copies of the letters were filed in the Department of Public Safety as well as with the University’s Judicial Administrator.
No student has been punished for multiple parking violations at this point but punishment can range from a final warning to a suspension of parking privileges on campus, according to Sharon Beard, judicial administrator.
Emrich and Beard view the letter as opening the lines of communication between the Department of Public Safety, the Student Disciplinary Committee and students. There are more parking spots on campus than cars, according to Emrich.
She finds the problem is in student’s expectations of parking. All students are allowed to park in the law school lot, the Fieldhouse lot, Rho parking lot, Dresher parking structure, on John Tyler, on Via Pacifica and on most of Huntsinger Circle. Most of Seaver drive is reserved for commuter students from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Although the letters have been sent out students who continue to violate parking policies will have their cases reviewed on a case-by-case basis and the Student Disciplinary Committee and the Department of Public Safety will collaborate on when to bring student in for disciplinary action.
“If the fees aren’t changing your behavior I don’t think it’s unfair to say there’s a next step, but if it ever comes to a point where students had to come before me or the Student Disciplinary Committee it doesn’t mean they are automatically going to be punished,” Beard said. “That’s their opportunity to explain their actions.”
04-13-2006