By: Marlon Villa and Maddie Fredrickson
While staff and faculty seem to have the most conveniently placed parking on campus, it may be much harder for them to park while trying to clock-in.
This year, CSU Long Beach sold a total of 43,842 total parking permits which included yearly, monthly, semester and academic year permit lengths.
Lots E1-E11 are designated for employees only, however, some faculty and staff members have encountered challenges when looking for parking.
Jay Seidel, journalism professor, said he arrives at the “crack of dawn,” to ensure a nearby parking spot.
Seidel arrives to teach at 8:00 a.m and said he’s often forced to stay on campus in between lectures because parking can get competitive towards the afternoon.
“I did the mistake of leaving between classes once,” Seidel said. “I came back and my next class started at 12:30. I came back about 11:45. And yeah, it was a mistake.”
Chad Keller, public affairs and communications specialist for Parking and Operations, said the majority of employee complaints are about students parking in their reserved lots.
“While the university has designated student lots, students still tend to park in employee lots which makes it difficult and/or creates stress for staff,” said Christopher Mardiroussian, English professor.
Adam Butz, a public policy professor, said his transportation methods include taking the bus or getting a ride from someone else, also including via Uber or Lyft.
“I do not need to fight for parking on-campus, which leads to peace of mind,” Butz said. “It also reduces our carbon footprint. My partner and I have a high level of environmental consciousness, so carpooling or taking mass transit is part of that mindset.”
Seidel said CSU Long Beach should follow CSU Fullerton’s parking policy/setup to attempt to fix parking issues.
“They need to do an on campus transportation, maybe it’s a golf cart, a trolley, something like that. I think that would help because it is such a large campus,” Seidel said.
Parking and transportation department does weekly surveys and with the results claiming demands are being met, additional parking is unlikely in the near future.