By: Rebecca Walwyn, Chloe Smith, Julie Herter
Recent changes to Southern Adventist University’s campus, including the additions of the
Mountain Cottages and Ruth McKee School of Business, have further complicated a persistent
parking issue on campus.
Tom Verrill, senior vice president of Financial Administration, acknowledged the difficulties.
“The new Ruth McKee School of Business building has resulted in some parking issues, from
the perspective that there are not enough spots near the building for everyone inside the building
to park,” Verrill stated.
Cassidy Seralde, a junior business administration major, said that parking availability at the
business building is dependent on multiple factors.
“It definitely depends on the time that you get over there,” said Seralde. “For me, I have an
electric vehicle, so I’m able to park in the charger, but for people who have a normal car, it is a
lot harder, especially with a lot of visitors that they had over the past week.”
When asked how the issue could be alleviated, Seralde said there should be more parking options
around the business building.
“I feel like [the parking lot] should be bigger considering how big the building is and how many
students have classes in there,” she said.
Verrill explained that such issues are common occurrences for many universities.
“This is natural on a university campus, as it is impossible to have enough parking spots at each
building for all who use the building at peak times,” he stated. “This requires students to park
once on campus in areas that are available and walk to their various classes.”
Verrill explained that the cottages have also caused parking issues, offering some alternatives.
“Parking spots were added near the [cottages], but there are not enough for every resident,”
Verrill stated. “There is typically ample parking in the parking lot near Campus Safety and the
lot near WSMC, and there are stairs from both of these lots up to the cottages.”
Naomi Ann Martinez, a junior theology major, said she enjoys living in the cottages, but the lack
of parking spaces made her experience worse..
“At night, you won’t find parking at the top [next to the cottages],” said Martinez, “so your only
options are WSMC or the Campus Safety lot, and both options are so dark at night.”
Outside of the newly developed areas on campus, students and faculty also face similar
challenges.
Students say finding a space on campus can often take longer than expected, especially near busy
academic buildings such as the McKee Library and Bietz Student Center. For students trying to
get to class on time, even a few extra minutes spent looking for parking can make a difference.
“If you don’t know ahead of time how much parking there is, and it affects what time you get to
class, it can be hard, especially if you have a test or presentation,” said Seralde.
Commuting Students
Commuting freshman nursing student Adriel Lewis shared his concerns about not being able to
find parking spots.
“There are times when I’m trying to find parking near my class, and it takes me an additional 10
minutes to find parking,” he said. “It ends up not being at all near my classes, and then I’m late,
which is disruptive.”
Lewis also expressed a desire for more commuter-only parking, so that commuters are not
sharing with faculty, on-campus students and community members.
Jaden Gibbs, a junior business administration major who also commutes to Southern, shared
similar concerns.
“The most convenient place to find parking is probably either behind WSMC by Brock Hall or
usually the parking spaces by the business building, but those are usually full,” Gibbs said.
Residence Halls
According to Dennis Negrón, vice president of Student Development, one of the main causes of
parking congestion for commuter students is due to students in the residence halls who drive to
their classes.
“The reason is that residents of Talge and Thatcher move their cars to academic buildings
throughout the day,” Negrón stated. “This is not a privilege allowed on any university or college
campus in the U.S. Once we figure out how to keep residential students in their lots, the parking
issues on campus will be alleviated significantly.”
In agreement with Negron, Verill explained that students should leave vehicles in residence hall
parking lots.
“Residence hall students already have designated parking near the center of campus, and
therefore should not have any parking issues,” Verrill stated.
Samuel Knowlton, a sophomore biology major and Talge resident, said that he does not have an
issue with leaving his car at the dorm.
“I can always find a spot behind Talge, and I’m fine walking anywhere else on campus from
there,” Knowlton said.
Freshman nursing major and Thatcher Hall resident Isabealla Willams-Marlow said she believes
students residing in the dorms should be able to drive to classes.
“Sometimes you have a class in a building across the campus and 10 minutes to get there,”
Williams-Marlow said. “That’s really an issue when teachers take attendance seriously. It is also
based off of the weather because if it is really hot, cold or rainy, walking to class can take longer
and is a lot harder.”
Patric Zabala, a freshman nursing major who lives in Talge Hall, said he thinks the current
parking regulations are unfair.
“We park in one place for at most an hour and get a ticket for $25, when there was nowhere else
to park,” Zabala said.
Before the grand opening ceremony of the Ruth McKee School of Business on Oct. 3, students
were told in an email sent by Negrón that they had to move their cars during the event.
Zabala commented on the scarcity of space during events.
“We can only park behind Talge and when there is an event and administration tells us we can
move our cars other places, but it is not enough. Where are we supposed so go?” Zabala said.
Southern Village
According to an email sent on Sept. 2 on behalf of campus safety to Southern Villages residents,
the university is aware of the lack of parking in Southern Village Proper. The email offered
alternative solutions, such as parking in an overflow lot at the lower stateside apartments or at
the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists.
“Finding parking can be really frustrating,” said Bryanna Lopez, a junior nursing major and
Southern Village Proper resident assistant. “It’s just hard because then you have to rush even
more in the morning and it’s just harder to be able to come home and actually relax.”
According to Lopez, alternative parking options do not benefit all residents equally.
“I think parking in the church is really convenient for the buildings that live in the front,” Lopez
said, “but it’s not very beneficial to people who live in the back end.”
According to Negrón, there are often cars parked in Southern Village that are not permitted to be
there, further adding to the issue.
“We have done a survey of cars parked in SV [Southern Village] after hours and found many
cars that should not be parked there,” Negrón stated, “so we’re not sure how bad the problem at
[Southern Village] is.”
When asked what she felt could alleviate the problem, Lopez suggested adding more parking
spaces.
“I really don’t know what else could fix it besides buying more plots of land,” she said. “There’s
certainly got to be more spots that we can add parking.”
Lopez also expressed frustration with changes in parking permit costs.
According to the campus parking permit portal, undergraduate student vehicle permits are $55
per semester for Fall and Winter, and $15 for the summer term; graduate students are $25 per
semester, and additional vehicles are $10 per additional vehicle.
According to billing statements sent to students each semester via email, undergraduate permit
prices have increased from $45 to $55 in the last two years.
“It’s really unfortunate that they’re raising prices for parking permits but not helping with
parking,” said Lopez. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Administrative Response
According to Verrill, the number of parking permits issued by campus safety should account for
parking spaces available on campus at any given time.
“We issued about 2500 parking permits this fall, including students, employees, and guests,”
Verrill said. “It needs to be understood that not all of these cars are on campus at the same time.
We have about 2800 parking spaces on campus if you include the upper Collegedale Church lot,
and about 2450 without this lot. This excludes parking at the Village Market and the ball fields. This is sufficient for the number of cars that are on campus at any one time.”
Verrill acknowledged that not all students are able to park in their ideal locations and made some
recommendations for parking alternatives.
“There tends to be enough parking on campus, however the spots may not be as close to the
building where students have classes as they would like,” Verrill stated. “There is always parking
available during the week at the Collegedale Church, near the Virginia Apartments, and near
WSMC. These are just a few minutes’ walk from the center of campus.”
Beyond parking alternatives, Verrill said efforts to improve parking access for commuters
remain ongoing.
“We continue to see if there are better ways to manage parking on campus,” Verrill stated. “We
are committed to making sure commuters have sufficient parking opportunities when they arrive
on campus.”
