The Faculty Senate Executive Committee is seeking input from faculty on their experience with UT parking. Some Senate Executive Committee members believe that UT parking is adversely impacting enrollment. The UT-AAUP Executive Board supports the Senate Executive Committee survey and encourages faculty to respond. Examples of faculty experiences with ParkUToledo are presented below.
ParkUToledo has been using a Texas-based debt collecting agency to collect parking fines. UT has also used the Ohio Attorney General to collect fines. A faculty member recently received letters from a Texas agency demanding payment for unpaid parking citations. The collection letters were in error. The license plates on the citations did not belong to the faculty member. The faculty member had not received any parking citations. ParkUToledo admitted there was a mistake.
If an employee has two cars registered on one permit, only one registered car can be on campus at the same time. That rule is understood. However, there is also a three-hour rule. If a second registered car comes on campus within three hours after the first registered car has left campus, both cars are ticketed even though there is only one car on campus.
Parking fines have been levied on unsuspecting visitors including parents who come to the UT campus with prospective students to tour UT. Later, they receive a notice of an unpaid citation from the Ohio Attorney General or a collection agency. This is not an effective way to recruit students.
The Administration has not been transparent about who actually owns ParkUToledo. ParkUToledo is not an independent entity. It is owned by UT and operated by the UT Administration. Its primary function is to collect parking fees and fines from employees and students. Ticketing is done seven days a week.
As reported in prior UT-AAUP Newsletters, ParkUToledo was created with $70 million in bonds guaranteed by the Lucas County Port Authority. Of the $70 million, $50 million went into the UT Foundation and $20 million was used to tear down the parking garages and resurface lots. The $70 million in bonds is being paid off over 35 years with employee parking permit fees and parking citations.
It is not known how much ParkUToledo has impacted enrollment. At the time this entity was created, Matt Schroeder, Executive VP of Finance, said it would impact enrollment, but he did not know by how much. To their credit, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee is looking into faculty experiences with ParkUToledo and the possible impact on enrollment.
We need a comparison of our parking permit fees with BGSU fees. Also, what is the total dollar amount of parking fines collected by ParkUToledo versus BGSU? Finally, what does the Administration plan to do with the $50 million from the bonds which is sitting in the UT Foundation?
UT-AAUP Executive Board