Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

At the Student Government Association meeting on October 28, a speaker was brought in to discuss student parking on campus, a problem which SGA has been attempting to address throughout the semester. Randy Geering, Senior Director of Operations at Penn State Behrend, spoke at the meeting, as the Operations Department oversees parking on campus. 

Earlier this year it was brought to the attention of SGA members Matt Strup, of Student Affairs, and Jasmine Lewis, of Commuter Affairs, that students were concerned about several varying parking issues on campus. For example, many students were not purchasing parking passes because of the apparent lack of repercussions they seemed to face for parking without one. Additionally, many students are upset about the cost of parking passes, and are frustrated by students parking in the wrong lots, often without any consequences. 

The guest speaker Randy Geering explained that parking restrictions have been relaxed, and less enforced over the last few years due to a “centralization of power” on campus that made it difficult to maintain regular ticketing. He also explained that, “if you see something, say something,” in regards to parking violations on campus. Parking services can be contacted as 814-898-7275. SGA members also proposed possibly reinstating the idea of a student-run volunteer parking patrol, which is something the school has utilized in the past. 

According to the parking FAQ listed on the Penn State Behrend website, there are currently 2,567 parking spaces on campus. Geering explained at the meeting that of those spots, 800 are typically reserved for commuters. He also stated that there have currently been 959 fall semester student parking passes purchased, with an additional 598 having already been purchased for the spring semester. Also, 654 faculty parking permits have been purchased. 

One of the larger complaints students have been making this year regarding parking has to do with the cost of permits, which is significantly higher than many of the surrounding colleges. It was stated at the meeting that there is “no likely decrease,” in the price of parking permits. However, Geering also detailed at the meeting how all of the money earned from parking at Behrend is used for a variety of different purposes. 

“All the money we get here at Behrend stays here at Behrend to maintain our parking lots,” said Geering at the meeting. SGA receives the money that is made off of parking tickets throughout the semester, which then gets redistributed for a variety of causes on campus. For example, 30 dollars per semester goes to all of the campus clubs that do not attend the club showcase, and 45 dollars a semester goes to clubs that do attend the showcase. 

Geering also stated that 90 percent of the money received from parking pass purchases is then used for parking maintenance, and for funding the printing of parking tickets and the employees responsible for such work. 

It was mentioned at the meeting that students also feel several areas are lacking parking, or that there is not close enough parking for particular campus buildings. For example, Geerling explained that for students to have been permitted to park in the Adavanced Manufacturing Innovation Center building lots, there would have needed to be at least 400 parking spots. Instead, there are only 280 spots there. Half of those 280 spots are reserved for faculty, while the other half are for potential business partners. 

The University does not want to fill that lot with students, because potential businesses looking to move into that area want to make sure there is parking for themselves. Geerling explained that the school is currently making more money by leaving half of that lot open for businesses then they would be opening up the lot to students who buy parking passes. 

Another issue discussed at the meeting involved the differences between residential students’ issues with pairing, and commuters’ issues. Residents and commuters pay the same amount of money for a parking pass each semester, but Geering revealed commuters often place more wear on the parking spaces, as they enter and leave a spot several times within a day. 

Additionally, in a parking crisis, residential students would be the ones to lose parking lots, as they would have to be switched to commuter lots. There is a large difference between where commuters are allowed to park versus where residents have to, and it is generally surprising these two groups pay the same price for the same parking permit. 

SGA has been putting forth a lot of effort this year into addressing the current parking dilemmas, and have seen some improvements. According to the recent SGA meeting, appeals on parking tickets, as well as parking pass purchases have increased throughout the semester. Should one feel the need to address an issue with Parking Services, their office is located inside the Reed Union Building and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.