Faculty Parking | Photo by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
“Student Government Leadership approached our parking folks with the idea of providing this benefit [employee parking permits] to student leaders in recognition of their work and dedication outside of the classroom,” said Greg Sample, chief operating officer and C.E.O. of Double Bowler Properties Corp. “They [Student Government] refined the eligibility and parameters and we [parking services] agreed to support the request.”
Student Government Association (SGA) recently offered B Permits, employee parking passes, to the executive board members of the Coordinating 9 campus organizations.
Those with B Permits are able to park in the yellow-lined parking spaces.
B Permits do not allow parking in residential lots or spaces reserved for visitors, people with disabilities or university vehicles, according to Wright State’s Parking and Transportation Services website.
It was agreed that students are eligible if they have no parking tickets and had bought a full-year parking pass, according to Ivan Mallett and Adrian Williams, president and vice president of SGA, respectively.
Any commuter pass is acceptable except passes only for Lot 4a, according to Kathy Warden, manager of customer care center and small projects for facilities.
Normally, residential students are only allowed to park in commuter lots between 4 p.m. and 6 a.m.
However, eligible student leaders who are campus residents will be allowed to park all day with the B Permit, according to Warden.
“The only student leaders eligible for passes are ones that have purchased the regular student pass, have no tickets and are in good standing with parking, and are full-time students,” said Williams.
Who are the Coordinating 9:
The Coordinating 9 include: Black Student Union (BSU), Fraternity and Sorority Council (FSC), Rainbow Alliance, Residential Community Association, Student Government Association (SGA), The Wright State Guardian Media Group, University Activities Board (UAB), WWSU 106.9, and the Latinx, Asian, and Native American Council (LANA).
How are the passes distributed?
The number of executive board members varies from one organization to another.
For example, LANA was offered two B Permits whereas WWSU was offered seven. Also, some student leaders are involved in more than one of the Coordinating 9 organizations.
The 45 B Permits are being offered “as a thank you for the hard work that we put in and the constituencies that we represent,” and for the students who are on campus the most, according to Mallett.
“He [Mallett] expressed to me that a number of student leaders had expressed frustration to him about their lack of access to campus parking when they need to be on time to meetings with university officials and faculty to do their jobs, especially with the high number of empty faculty spots on campus,” said Williams.
Of the 45 student leaders offered B Permits, 18 were contacted for comment and three responded.
“I absolutely enjoy the faculty pass. It saves me time in my commute to class and it is very convenient! It definitely was unexpected receiving one, but I am very happy I got one. I will for sure use it as long as I have it,” said Noah Skowron, president of the Residential Community Association.
Samantha Ervin, general manager of WWSU, feels differently.
“To be completely honest I didn’t understand why we were getting faculty parking passes,” said Ervin. “I just feel the parking pass is just really not necessary and unfair to all students, as well as other students who have on-campus jobs and are not getting the same treatment.”
Ervin has not picked up her B Permit and does not plan to.
“We [Rainbow Alliance] don’t really understand the whole process of the parking pass situation yet so we’re hesitant on saying much about it,” said Dakota Sturgill, president of Rainbow Alliance, who did not receive a pass.
'I am proud to work on an initiative that benefits our entire campus community.'
According to the Parking and Transportation Services website, “graduate assistants, teaching assistants and student employees are not eligible for B permits but can purchase a commuter or residential student parking pass.”
Commuter permits (except those for Lot 4a only) are $95 per semester, $160 for two semesters, or $200 for fall, spring, and summer. B Permits are $100 per semester or $225 annually, according to the Parking and Transportation Services website.
“The university is not losing any money due to the passes, and there will actually be more student spots available for students to park in due to the passes decreasing the number of students parking in student spots,” said Williams. “I am proud to work on an initiative that benefits our entire campus community.”
Those eligible who currently have a commuter pass will turn their passes into Parking and Transportation Services, who will enact a price adjustment and give them a B Permit in exchange at no additional cost.
Those eligible who do not currently have a commuter pass will go to Parking and Transportation Services and pay $95 but be given a B Permit after the price adjustment.
Williams was unreachable for comment as to during which SGA meeting the parking permits initiative was voted on.
