2008 Woodie Awards
Parking Rate Debate Nears an End
Nedra Cruz
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Students seized the opportunity to ask questions and share concerns with administrators about the proposed increase in campus parking rates.
Students showed an outpouring of concern for the proposed parking model at an open forum held by administrative officials on April 10. More than 50 members of the University of Baltimore community attended the discussion in the Business Center.
President Robert L. Bogomolny, Harry Schuckel, senior vice president of Administration and Finance, Steve Cassard, assistant vice president for campus planning and real estate development, and Barbara Aughenbaugh, associate vice president of Auxiliary Enterprises, fielded questions and heard suggestions for proposal revisions for over two hours from a mainly student audience. The student forum followed an employee town hall about the same issue on April 9.
Before starting the question-and-answer session, Bogomolny commented about the protest that took place earlier in the day on Gordon Plaza. "I believe that it's good to see the students who…feel they do have the strength to come out and talk about it, demonstrate. That's been, I think, not a bad thing, but a good thing."
He also addressed an issue brought up prior to the forum: Students are concerned that parking fees are not included as qualified expenses on financial aid forms.
"We're trying, insofar as we can, to increase financial aid available to reflect that," said Bogomolny, who acknowledged that it will not help the students who are already at the limit allowed by the federal government.
Many UB students, specifically those in the Law School, find themselves in that situation, with no source to pay for additional fees.
"I don't mean to sound harsh, but there is no way to do these things for free," Bogomolny said. "The only way for us to develop these proposals is to try to figure out the most creative and least cost-expensive way to do it."
During the Q-and-A, Allyson Goldscher, 2L, said, "The parking rate increase that hasn't gone on at this school is not the students' fault. It's really unfortunate that the accountability is being placed on the students where it's the university's fault for not increasing the rates over the years."
The university has been absorbing the parking-rate–related deficit and students have benefited from the university's "dereliction over the past years," Bogomolny said.
Goldscher also asked why current students are paying for a parking facility that will not be finished for at least a year.
"We still have three-quarters of a million dollars in deficit that we anticipate for next year," regardless of the new garage project, Schuckel said. "We're not talking about deficit of a fixed amount of money. We're talking about an ongoing deficit—every single year is going to continue to create three quarters of a million dollars in red ink.
"What's the effect of that? It takes money away from other programs," Schuckel said. Parking and other departments in Auxiliary, such as campus food services and the bookstore, "should be minimally self-funding, and they certainly shouldn't detract from academic programs."
In response to a question by Marcus Newton, MBA finance student and Graduate Student Senate treasurer, Schuckel said that part of the revenue generated by the parking rates goes to Parking Management Inc. (PMI), and the rest of it goes toward the costs of running the garage as well as the parking deficit.
Andrew Saller, 2L and Student Bar Association treasurer, suggested a minute-by-minute model. "That is the most fair model possible; I will only pay for what I'm here."
"The point of the brackets was so that there wasn't a disincentive to stay longer," Aughenbaugh said. "Once you stayed eight hours, it was the same rate, so it was meant to not disincent [sic] students who participate in extracurricular activities."
Mary Murphy, 2L, expressed her disappointment about the delayed release of proposed parking rates.
"I understand your frustration about the delay," Bogomolny said. "There are business reasons that we've been engaged in that required the process to take longer than we anticipated."
Some suggestions the administration will consider include additional bicycle storage and possible discounts for motorcycle storage. Upon the advice of a law student who has worked in non-profit organizations for over 10 years, administration will look into adding a category for transportation to their current capital campaign.
Addressing the audience, Bogomolny said, "We will, where we can, make whatever adjustments that we can in response to your questions and issues in order to make this as tolerable as possible."
Revised parking proposals will be posted on UB's "Parking Updates" website (www.ubalt.edu/parkingupdate) by close of business on April 16. Senior administrators will meet with the University Council Executive Committee and the student Presidents' Council during the week of April 21 for final feedback and discussion. The contract with PMI is slated to be signed on April 29, and final parking rates will be posted on the website that day.
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