Texas Wesleyan’s parking lots are inadequate for the number of students during the most common scheduled class hours. Parking on campus is difficult since student lots are further from class, and the lots fill up during these busier hours.
The most common student parking lots are located along Collard Street and are labeled U, E and P Often students find themselves without parking spaces and resort to the visitor and faculty parking lots.
Using a reserved or assigned lot is a game of chance. The security guard parking staff could issue a parking citation. Students are given 10 days to pay or appeal a ticket before a hold is placed on the student’s account.
Parking violations include:
- 1, Handicapped Parking, $75
- 2, Not registered vehicle or failure to display sticker, $50
- 3, Faculty Staff Parking Space, $50
- 4, Visitor Parking Space, $30
- 5, No Parking zone/Loading Zone/Grassy Area, $30
- 6, Blocking Vehicles: Roadway/Walkway, $30
- 7, Parked in Fire Lane, $75
- 8, Occupying Two Spaces, $30
- 10, Reuse of Old Citation, $50
- 8, Other, $30
This car is exiting the staff and faculty parking lot along Collard St. without a parking sticker. (Serenada Sanchez)
The unavailable parking issue worsens for students who live on campus as resident parking lots are the furthest from class buildings. It would be deranged to believe these students walk through snow, ice, rain or extreme temperatures to get to class to avoid fines.
Additionally, it is common for unregistered cars to occupy the private resident parking lots and this tends to aggravate students living in the dorms.
Despite the student-faculty ratio being 16:1, there are more parking lots designated for faculty and staff. The parking lots for faculty and staff are frequently closer to classroom buildings than the student parking lots. Lots for teachers are assigned based on office buildings.
Parking lots have been expanded over the years, and since 2022 enrollment has increased. Texas Wesleyan could re-assign parking lots to faculty and students, adding a student lot toward the front of campus for on-campus students.
Students should avoid parking in the wrong lots to avoid a citation. When parking during busier hours, arrive early to avoid being tardy.
I recently learned that there is a process we can go through to request more student parking. If several students fill out a Service Request online, perhaps together, we can get more student parking at Wesleyan.