SGA Meeting 9/27 | Photo by Jamie Naylor | The Wright State Guardian
The student governing board opened the floor for public comment and discussion about the new parking system and proposed a new signage resolution at the Sept. 27 meeting.
Parking discussion
After suspending member reports, Student Government Association President Blake Bailey opened the floor to Director of Public Safety Kurt Holden.
The director explained WSU’s previous parking system with permits for each residential building that did not allow parking on the main campus, further explaining executive leadership’s decision to create a new structure, including Rowdy Raider passes. More information about Rowdy Raider passes can be found here.
“We now allow all residential students who purchase a permit to park anywhere on campus,” Holden said. “With these changes to put students first, we have eliminated all those different passes.”
Holden noted a 20 percent decrease in the original $200 permit price. Out of the 7000 total parking spaces on campus, 450 are Rowdy Raider spots. According to Holden, 200 people have purchased these passes.
“95 percent of parking is available to everybody now,” Holden said. “You all are students, you are all adults, but you are also Wright State’s customer. There’s a lot of businesses out there, okay, that don’t let their employees park up front, and we’re letting you park up front now.”
Senator for the College of Liberal Arts Cameron Haught questioned the distribution of Rowdy Raider spots, noting a different number of those designations cross-campus.
“There is a plan to kind of change the layout because we have heard from students, faculty and staff that, hey, maybe we should do more in this lot and less in this lot,” Holden answered.
Senior Kaitlyn Jervis asked if students are able to park in any spot on campus after certain hours. The director was unable to provide specific hours for unlimited availability, but noted that all spots are available after 4 p.m. on Friday and during the weekend.
Junior Alex Stone asked where to find this information about parking services. WSU Policy 7410 contains more information about general parking regulations.
SGA director of inclusive excellence and accessibility Ariana Ellis wondered if the number of available Rowdy Raider parking spaces would increase in the future. Holden clarified that there is no plan to take this action.
“The plan is to look at maybe redistributing them for of course the next school year and taking in advice and taking in student concerns and seeing how we can maybe make it better for everybody,” the director said.
Alum Jules Mae questioned if funding for a public transportation system is a future planning alternative rather than individual parking options. Holden mentioned that students who park off-campus can have that conversation but that ideally bussing through private lots at Meijer or El Rancho Grande would not be available.
New resolution
After an executive session, Bailey introduced Resolution 23.5 regarding outdoor campus signage.
“This came from a popular request from new students on campus that were having trouble finding their way around campus,” Bailey said.
Director of external affairs Alexia Ricker, Vice President Brandon Blair, commuter senator Alaina Collins, director of academic affairs Aliesha Knauer and Haught expressed support for this resolution while offering amendment ideas such as QR codes, directional stickers on the ground and additional outdoor campus maps.
Old business
Faculty President Brian Boyd reported on the recent faculty senate meeting, noting accreditation presentations, core curriculum discussion and significant questions about parking and feedback.
“If [the new parking system] was such a good decision for students, there was concern that it was not discussed with students or the staff and faculty that serve students everyday,” Boyd said. “Policy 7410 deals with parking, it’s been updated in August, but it’s not actually accurate to what we are implementing right now.”
Staff Representative Frank Wolz mentioned that the Strategic Planning Committee has met and will have public listening sessions on Webex this Friday and next Friday.
The next public SGA meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Atlantis Room.
