Coastal Carolina University (CCU) Staff Senate members aired their grievances and concerns regarding parking on campus at the Oct. 8 meeting.
Vice President for Auxiliary Enterprises and Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Harrison spoke at the meeting about upcoming parking changes in the 10-year Master Plan. They gave staff members the chance to speak up about any concerns and questions.
Marketing Coordinator for University Libraries Kathleen Schipano brought awareness to the senators about what she has overheard from students, as well as their attitude towards the University. She said students believe the University is greedy.
To answer students and clear up any confusion, Schipano further questioned Harrison about his role in the University and how his department handles the students.
“What does your office do to address that kind of emotional reaction?” Schipano asked.
Harrison said he never wants the students to feel as though their reactions and concerns are being ignored or dismissed.
“The first thing I would say is that we don’t seek first to address it, but first listen to it,” Harrison said.
Harrison took this meeting as an opportunity to clear up what exactly his department handles, how they operate and what services they provide for CCU.
In response to concerns and limitations around parking, Harrison explained how parking and transportation is a financial responsibility for Auxiliary Enterprises, which cannot be funded by tuition and state fund allocations.
Instead, Auxiliary Enterprises is funded by direct fees for the services they provide. These services include vending machines, the campus bookstore, parking, transportation, mail services, gameday concessions and CINO card operations, among many other things.
“Ensuring that the things that we share responsibility for stand on their own, that they do not utilize tuition dollars or state appropriations to fund themselves,” Harrison said. “Our motive is never profit.”
To prepare for the Master Plan parking renovation, Auxiliary Enterprises partnered with a design company called Stantec. Stantec has been collecting data on transportation and parking across all areas of campus.
Air tubes, drone footage and parking lot monitoring were several methods the company has used for data collection. In January 2025, Stantec will report on the data and guide the University on what will work best for the renovations.
Harrison informed the Staff Senate that such renovations will serve as an extension to the current parking lots, to not disturb untouched land. Some parking lots will be renovated into parking garages that will build up rather than out, avoiding taking away more land and space for other things.
“As the Chief Sustainability Officer, that’s the right move,” Harrison said. “It’s critical that when we build buildings, we don’t remove green space, we don’t remove ecological systems. We build on places that are already disturbed.”
Some staff members are pleased with how parking is currently managed at CCU. Academic Advisor Hailey Melton came from a university where she had to pay almost $400 for parking each semester. She is pleased with the low prices for staff parking and the free parking passes for students.
“I know that there are lots of concerns, but as someone who has been here for almost 10 years, I think we’re doing it really well,” Melton said.
