Otterbein students continue to complain about how long they have to walk from their parking spots, while the Otterbein Police Department (O.P.D.) tells students to park at the Point.
This year’s parking survey sent out by O.P.D. shows where empty spots are on campus, but it fails to address student complaints about how far away these spots are.
O.P.D. suggests students park at the Point (60 Collegeview Road) and walk to their classes, but some students find this solution frustrating.
Lauren Lane, a sophomore marketing major, said parking at the Point has caused her to be late to class.
“That makes me feel terrible because, especially being an equine person, we have to drive to and from the barn all the time, and we’re relying on spots to get to our classes," said Lane.
Lane suggested that Otterbein follow a policy of not allowing freshmen to have cars on campus or making freshmen park in lots further from campus, like the Point. She hopes these methods might deter them from bringing cars in the first place.
“We need parking or we need to regulate parking passes,” said Lane.
Another student, Ellie Iannucci, a sophomore theater design tech major, said she's had to park her car across campus and walk home in the middle of the night.
“On the weekends parking isn’t as bad, but during the week, I drive around for 10, sometimes 15 minutes trying to find a spot somewhere,” said Iannucci.
Iannucci suggested that Otterbein not take away student parking spaces for sporting events and other campus-sponsored events. She also said that some unused faculty and staff parking spots should be made accessible to students and that Otterbein should consider building a parking garage.
The idea of a parking garage was brought up in a 2017 Otterbein University Student Government meeting. Collette Masterson, advisor to the student government, said construction for a parking garage would cost around $600 per car. The current parking pass costs full-time students $110.
