Editorial
Compared to the big issues of life, a rise of $25 in our parking fees is no big deal. But it is a reminder of the annoyance that the University pays us with one hand then takes back with the other. Last year, the University Senate passed a motion to freeze the fee at the old rates until a committee could investigate the necessity of the parking fee increase. Fr. Dobbin did institute a committee to study parking fees, though the fee increase was implemented without delay.
The final committee report disappointed me and many others. The report recommended no further increase in the fee for five years, and the formation of a new parking fee committee in three years to recommend new increases. The report should have outlined how to eliminate this nuisance fee!
The income from parking fees is substantial, about $710K in parking fees and about $180K in parking fines. Expenses are
about $224K for salaries and benefits and $261K for other expenses. A few years ago the Mission and Social Justice Committee surveyed parking fees at benchmark and local area schools:
| Institution | Parking Fee |
| Arcadia |
$0 |
| Boston College | $120-$420 |
| Bucknell | $0 |
| Bryn Mawr | $0 |
| Cabrini | $0 |
| Cheyney | $0 |
| Drexel | $1224 |
| Eastern | $0 |
| Georgetown | $1400 |
| Haverford | $0 |
| Lafayette | $0 |
| Lasalle | $150 |
| Neumann | $0 |
| Notre Dame | $0 |
| Richmond | $0 |
| Rosemont | $0 |
| St. Joseph’s | $90 ($45 low paid staff) |
| Temple | $1068 |
| University of Delaware | $275-$1270 |
| University of Pennsylvania | $1500 |
| Wake Forest | $0 |
| West Chester | $30 |
Clearly, rural and urban schools have different parking needs, but Villanova’s parking fees seem high among suburban schools.
But why should Villanova have any fee at all? I wish we had a parking fee because it would encourage people to carpool or to take public transportation and thus protect our environment. Or if high paid faculty and administrators paid parking fees in order to subsidize living wages for lower paid staff in accordance with Catholic social teaching, we could view the fees as morally beneficial. But the administration views the fees as a source of revenue, pure and simple. Is this the best way to raise funds for our operations?
The administration stated that parking is a privilege, not a benefit. Given the prices of housing in the Villanova area, almost everyone commutes from distant communities which mostly do not have convenient public transportation. Given these unfortunate realities, do most of us really have options other than driving and parking on campus? A privilege that one must accept is not a privilege. A fee that one must pay in order to work is not a privilege, it is a tax.
Let’s keep things in perspective: the parking fee is not ruining our lives nor impinging on our wonderful working environment at Villanova. Like the buzzing fly that does no harm but annoys us and provokes swatting, however, the parking fee is a fly we should swat away. Let’s request that the administration remove this annoyance permanently!
(This editorial represents the personal opinions of the Facultas Editor, Robert Styer, not necessarily the opinions of the Faculty Congress and certainly not all administrators. On the other hand, there are many faculty and some administrators who agree that we should eliminate the parking fee, and I hope you are one.)
For more information: see the original Senate motion protesting the rise in parking fees at
http://unisenate.villanova.edu/minutes/minutes/05-05-06.htm
The final all too brief report to the University Senate is at
http://unisenate.villanova.edu/minutes/06-04-21.htm
The Parking Fee: an Unnecessary Annoyance