Commuting students were welcomed back to campus this semester with a cut to commuter parking spaces in order to make room for faculty members.
Commuters may now choose between 14 lots around campus, 4 of those lots are shared with faculty.
Last semester, Y lot was entirely available to both faculty and commuter passes. This semester, Parking Services cut Y lot in half and allowed Faculty to park in the entire lot, yet commuter students may only park in the more distant half.
Similarly, an unnamed lot behind the Merlin Bishop Building was designated for commuter parking last semester. This semester, it is strictly for faculty, despite the fact that it was already between two faculty lots.
This unnamed lot was mostly used by Fine Arts and DMD students, which now makes Y lot the closest parking lot for students in the Fine Arts buildings. The image below shows what it looks like now on a daily basis.
UConn’s 4,857 faculty members have over 40 lots to park in at the Storrs campus.
Undergraduates, though, have a much higher need for commuter parking. Out of 23,845 undergraduates, approximately 33% are commuting students. This means that roughly 7,868 students need parking this academic year.
(Note: this percentage is from a nationally-accredited survey and is not officially published by UConn).
Commuter students have been frustrated at their options. Students have been speculating on the “Buy or Sell UConn Tickets” Facebook page about peaceful protest demonstrations to express their disappointment.
Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said that “UConn is no different than other 100-plus-year-old universities that have evolved over time to have very little parking in its core, and to be designed as a “walking” campus.”
The concept of UConn being a “walking campus”, though, does not explain why commuter lots are being cut to make more room for faculty.
Ultimately, as of now, students will have to continue to compete for parking or suffer consequences such as hefty parking fees, or missing class time to find a spot.