Fall parking fees for Stony Brook University students, staff, faculty
Starting in the fall, parking at Tubman Hall and other lots at Stony Brook University will come with a fee for students, staff and faculty at Stony Brook University.
Credit: Barry Sloan
Stony Brook University will roll out a campuswide paid parking plan in the fall for students, staff and faculty needed to close a substantial deficit and fund maintenance as well as operations and systemwide improvements, officials said.
The plan, which includes the university's hospital and has drawn the ire of some students, creates a tiered structure for parking on campus, with the higher amounts allowing access to all campus garages and parking lots.
Payment in garages or metered parking lots will be either by permit or through a daily rate, wrote Jed Shivers, Stony Brook's senior vice president of finance and administration and Lawrence Zacarese, vice president for enterprise risk management and chief security officer, in a Feb. 10 letter to stakeholders.
"We recognize that the proposed changes will have an impact on our community," they wrote. "However, the reality is that our current parking model is insufficient to fund routine maintenance or customer service improvements for our parking operations. Stony Brook’s parking services are self-funded, meaning that tuition, student transportation fees and SUNY funding are not allocated to support these operations. Despite running in an operational deficit, garage rates have not increased in more than 30 years and during that time, SBU has provided free parking in the majority of our locations."
The new model, they wrote, aligns Stony Brook with other SUNY schools and comparable research universities that charge for parking and would eliminate the deficit, cover existing repairs, maintenance and capital expenses and enable the university to replace outdated technology.
A Rochester-based accountant firm hired by Stony Brook, EFPR Group, conducted a review of the university's parking operations and financial information and forecast.
On Wednesday, students organized a protest against the new parking fees. Among the opponents are the SBU College Socialists, who created an online petition to fight the plan.
"Raising parking rates reinforces educational stratification and restricts the free inquiry and expression of all students," the group, which did not respond to a request for comment, wrote in its petition. "This increase in parking rates will effectively serve as a wage cut for staff across campus, particularly affecting the most impoverished workers, such as graduate workers. These issues are further compounded by the lack of quality public transport on Long Island, making cars a necessity for transportation."
In a statement, the university said the plan and fee structure are subject to change and a firm price for parking has not been set.
"Details are currently being reviewed with campus stakeholders, and we are focused on being very transparent with the process," the statement said.
United University Professions, the labor union representing Stony Brook staff, declined to comment about the plan.
Roughly two-thirds of all Stony Brook employees with parking permits currently pay for parking, university officials said in an online fact sheet.
The new parking system would eliminate parking zones for faculty and staff and a zone for commuter students, replacing both with areas for residential or commuter parking.
Parking enforcement, currently from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., will continue until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday for all surface parking lots on West Campus. East Campus facilities will continue to be enforced 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Currently, third-year residential students or higher, along with some employees, can park for free in certain lots, while commuter students are allowed to park in a south lot for free. Many other lots on campus currently charge for parking, officials said.
All parking stalls within a tier would be first-come, first-served. The university said it is exploring discounted evening permit options for students, which will allow access to the assigned tier beginning at 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
