AN IMPORTANT PARKING UPDATE
PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY

The newly created Task Force on Campus Transportation and Parking has been meeting frequently during the past week to give key campus constituencies – including undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff – a voice in creating a working policy for campus parking while keeping our students’ needs a priority. I want to commend the Task Force members for acting quickly to address the concerns that have been conveyed to them. Fairness is one of the Task Force’s primary goals.

Following is the Task Force’s agreement, which constitutes the University’s current 2008-2009 parking plan. Please keep in mind that freshmen students are not permitted to bring cars to campus, and resident students pay $200 per year to park. At this point in time, employees are not charged to park on or near campus.

The Task Force’s decision:
• To rotate all employees into a parking plan that will take effect Monday, September 8. There will be some exceptions, including:

1. Some staff members, due to irregular hours and job function, and those who are part of a carpool (Please see below for more information on carpooling.)
2. North Campus, because the spaces there are reserved for sophomore parking and athletic activities
3. Faculty members, because their arrival and departure times vary greatly, and their time on campus normally constitutes only part of the working day. Including them in a rotation would fail to free up any necessary campus parking spaces.

• Those with exceptions will continue to use the blue University sticker on their vehicle’s rear bumper. Carpool participants will use a black sticker.

The plan:
• Two groups, A and B, will form a rotation. If your last name begins with the letters A through K, you are part of the A group, which is on a Monday-Wednesday rotation that will not be permitted to park on campus on Mondays and Wednesdays. If your last name begins with the letters L through Z, you are part of the B group, which is on a Tuesday-Thursday rotation that will not be permitted to park on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Groups will alternate on Fridays.

• A shuttle will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. each workday. Please refer to the attached schedule for shuttle times. If the workday of certain employees begins before the shuttle is operating or ends after it is available, an exception will be granted. Requests for exceptions will be examined closely by the Officers. I ask that supervisors be flexible in regard to shuttle pickup and drop off.

• On Friday afternoon, September 5, members of the A group will need to visit the University Police Department to obtain parking identification markers. Members of the B Group will need to obtain their parking identification markers on Monday, September 8. Please display your marker on your dashboard.

• You will be parking in designated, first-come, first-served lots off campus served by the campus shuttle. The two off-campus lots are located at St. Paul’s Church, 898 First Avenue, West Haven, and Dadd’s Extreme Sports, 857 Boston Post Road, West Haven. For the time being, if you cannot find a spot in the first lot, please seek one at the next lot. The Human Resources Department will be contacting you soon to seek your preference regarding lot location. Both of these lots are patrolled on a regular basis. Please park in the areas designated by UNH Staff parking signs.

• On your respective on-campus parking days, you are now permitted to park in lots marked with either green or blue signage.

• Carpooling continues to be a viable option for those who wish to avoid the rotation. If you have established a carpool, please inform the Human Resources Department by e-mail at HRDept with the details of your carpool, then visit the University Police Department to obtain a black carpool sticker.

Call for volunteers:
• From 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. beginning Monday, September 8, and continuing through Thursday, September 11, there is a need for volunteers to help guide evening and graduate students to the proper parking locations on campus. Please call Katie Farren at ext. 2907 if you are interested in helping. University Police and Murphy Security will also be present to assist.

Next steps:
• The Task Force continues to explore stronger incentives for parking off-campus, carpooling and use of mass transportation.

• It will continue to meet weekly to monitor the plan’s effectiveness and develop a longer-term parking strategy.

The Flex Start Time Policy is still in effect.

If you have questions regarding the plan, please e-mail Bill Leete at wleete@newhaven.edu.

I sincerely appreciate your support regarding our current parking situation and will keep you apprised as it continues to evolve. Please keep in mind that this challenge is directly related to the University’s continued growth. It is a challenge that bodes well for our future.

Thank you,

Steve Kaplan