By Gloria Falach
While some students are settling into their classes and other campus commitments, others are worried about their cars parked in The University of Tampa’s parking garages.
UTampa students living on campus are allowed to park in the West Parking Garage across from Straz Hall with a parking pass that can be purchased from campus safety for $55. Many students living on campus still have not been given their parking pass, so they leave their cars parked in the garage without one.
“It makes me nervous every time I go to my car that I’ll have a ticket even though I paid for parking,” said sophomore Makenzie Collins.
Parking on campus without a parking pass can lead to getting a parking ticket or booting the car’s tire. Parking tickets can be up to about $20 to $30, and getting a boot off of a student’s tire can cost up to $50.
“I think it is important to get [the passes] sooner rather than later because it is easier for campus safety to see who is registered and who is not on campus,” said sophomore Maile Fisher. “Even though my plate is registered, maybe they will accidentally put a letter or number in wrong and then they will accidentally give a ticket on my car when they are not supposed to. If I just had a sticker, it would make the process easier.”
Many students who have paid for their passes still leave their cars parked in the garage without a pass. Waiting to get their passes is causing frustration and stress.
“I’ve talked to a few people that got their parking pass, but I know more people that don’t have them than do,” Collins said.
Students who complete the paperwork get their parking pass sent to their Spartan mailbox from the parking decal office. Some students still have not gotten theirs sent to their mailbox, regardless of when they filled out the paperwork, and feel like this process should be different.
“I feel like they should hand them out at campus safety or have them the day we move in so we can put them on our cars so we do not run into issues like this,” said sophomore Keira Anderson.
UTampa could do this process differently by allowing students to fill out the paperwork early in the summer in order to send their pass to their home address instead of being mailed to their school mailbox after school starts. If the student still lives on campus, UTampa could have the pass ready for them in their dorms so they can immediately put the pass on their cars. Another possibility is that during the Week of Welcome, students could make it a stop on their checklist to pick up their parking passes.
Fisher went to the campus safety office to ask about the estimated time of arrival for her parking pass and was told to email the parking decal office.
“The [parking pass] order is sent to the distribution center,” said the Parking and Vehicle Registration Office in an email. “They sent out the decals from there through the United States Post Office so unfortunately, there is no way to track them or guesstimate how long it will take for you to receive your decal.”
The office suggested that if Fisher does not get the decal by Friday, Sept. 27, to reach back out to the office. For those students who have not gotten their parking passes yet and it is getting closer to Sept. 27, feel free to email the parking decal office at parkingdecal@ut.edu. Students can also visit Vehicle Registration and Traffic Regulations for additional information.