REGENTS INCREASE STUDENT PARKING FEES

Southeast Missouri State University students will be paying more to park in campus lots as part of a plan designed to help fund a day and night shuttle bus system.

Parking fee revenue will also be used to blacktop, expand and maintain current parking lots, university officials said.

The Board of Regents Friday unanimously approved the parking plan despite student opposition to the increased parking fees.

The Student Senate had rejected the plan Thursday, contending the fee hike for preferred parking was too high, particularly coming on top of hikes in incidental fees, and room and board charges.

"This is a major change to the whole parking philosophy at Southeast," Ken Dobbins, vice president of finance and administration, told the regents.

The two newest regents were sworn in at the start of the meeting, held in the University Center Ballroom. Cape Girardeau attorney Don Dickerson, 61, and St. Louis newspaper editor Patricia Washington, 32, were sworn in by Judge Stanley Grimm of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District.

Both Dickerson and Washington were appointed to six-year terms earlier this month by Gov. Mel Carnahan.

They replaced Carl Ben Bidewell of Poplar Bluff and Daniel Williams Jr. of St. Louis, whose terms had expired.

Bidewell had been president of the Board of Regents. With the departure of Bidewell, Regent Don Harrison of Cape Girardeau, in his capacity as board vice president, chaired Friday's open session.

Following the open session, the regents elected Harrison as the board's new president. Regent Lynn Dempster of Sikeston was elected vice president.

Under the new parking fee schedule, which takes effect this fall, commuter and resident students will pay $45 a year to park in Southeast's outlying lots. For an $80 charge, a student will be able to park in a preferred lot, those nearer the center of the campus.

The new rates also call for evening, part-time and handicapped students to pay a $45 fee and motorcyclists to pay $25 for an annual decal.

This academic year, there was no differentiation between the various parking lots. Commuter students this academic year are paying an annual parking fee of $35. Students in the residence halls are paying an annual fee of $40.

Currently, evening and part-time students park at no cost, handicapped students are assessed a $35 fee, and motorcyclists pay $22.50 annually.

Dobbins said Southeast's perimeter parking lots are used little, while there's parking congestion in the center of the campus.

The Washington Street lot is a prime example, he said. The lot can accommodate about 500 cars, but fewer than 100 are generally parked there.

Establishment of the shuttle system involving three 25-passenger buses and a van operated by a private contractor should encourage students to park in perimeter lots, Dobbins said. The shuttle buses, which would make stops at various parking lots, would transport students to more central locations on campus.

He told the regents that during construction of the new business building, Southeast will temporarily lose 400 parking spaces. As a result, the university will have to make better use of its perimeter lots, he said.

On top of that, Dobbins said, city officials are looking at eliminating on-street parking for traffic safety reasons on Henderson, from Broadway to New Madrid, and the interior two lanes of Normal Ave., which runs through the heart of the campus.

If that occurs, he said, the university will lose a couple hundred more parking spaces.

Dobbins said the plan calls for the shuttle buses to operate on a 25-minute cycle during the day, Monday through Friday. A night shuttle will operate from 5 p.m. to 1:55 a.m., seven days a week.

The current night shuttle service will be incorporated into the new transportation system, Dobbins said.

He said the shuttle system is expected to cost $140,000 a year to operate. Parking permit fees are expected to generate $85,000 to $90,000, with federal funds providing another $40,000 to $45,000. The remainder will come from money now budgeted for the existing night shuttle.

Under the plan, commuter students will pay $45 more a year to park in preferred lots; residence-hall students will pay $40 more.

In contrast, students will only pay from $5 to $10 more next school year to park in perimeter campus lots.

Scott Giles, the non-voting student regent, read a statement from Student Government President Jeff Davis, explaining students' opposition.

The statement acknowledged that most of the parking changes "are necessary and long overdue." But, Davis wrote, that the senate could not support the plan for two reasons.

"First, it places a disproportionate burden of the cost on those students who would choose to purchase priority decals. Secondly, incidental fees, as well as room and board, have already been increased for next year.

Davis said the senators could not support "a measure that prescribes such a drastic increase in parking fees for some students and not for others."

"We realize something has to be done about the parking situation," Davis said following the regents' action. But he questioned the ever-increasing fee demands upon students.