Parking Services requires patience and good cheer

Ever wonder what keeps UD running smoothly? Up Close & Personnel, a new weekly feature, profiles the employees who keep UD ticking around the clock throughout the year. This week the focus is on UD's Parking Services.

Records specialists Beverly Smith (left), Helene Rudnick and their colleagues in the Parking Services front office serve thousands of students, faculty and staff every year, dealing with permit renewals, telephone inquiries and persons upset after receiving parking tickets.

Capt. James Grimes, senior assistant director of Public Safety

5:07 p.m., June 22, 2004--Susan Wilson reads facial expressions and often calms angry persons, but she is neither a criminal investigator nor a counselor. Wilson works in the front office in the Parking Services division of UD’s Department of Public Safety.

Wilson and four colleagues—Helene Rudnick, Brenda Ball, Beverly Smith and Donna Corcoran—serve thousands of students, faculty and staff every year, dealing with permit renewals, telephone inquiries and persons upset after receiving parking tickets.

Besides managing parking facilities for nearly 10,000 vehicles, issuing parking permits, processing renewals, receiving fine payments and answering questions, Parking Services staff frequently have to solve problems.

“It can be a very stressful job, but sometimes we have people who come in to say ‘Thank you,’” Wilson, a records specialist, said. “Very few things bother us: We’ve heard it all. We’ve heard every excuse.”

The most common tickets are for parking in fire lanes, handicapped spaces and expired parking meters and for parking without a permit, Denise Tuttle, supervisor, said.

Many drivers simply show up to pay their tickets while others file appeals. Some argue and offer excuses, such as, “I was in the fire lane for only two minutes” and “I had my flashers on in the fire lane,” Tuttle said.

Parking Services at a glance

There were 21,914 daily, semester and annual permits sold during the last fiscal year.
More than $2 million was generated from parking permits during last fiscal year.
The number of parking tickets issued last fiscal year was 42,230.
The total fine value for these tickets was $700,000.
“Lacks valid permit” was the most common violation cited.
Of 1,453 tickets appealed last year, 655 were granted.
$820,000 of Parking Services revenues pays for UD’s bus services.
Storms last winter cost Parking Services $500,000 for snow removal.

Compiled by Meredith McCarty, AS ’05.

“The number one thing we hear at the counter is, ‘You don't need a permit to park on campus after 4 p.m.’” Tuttle said. “This is not accurate. You always need a permit to park on campus unless paying at meters or pay-to-park lots.”

A calm demeanor also is required of the division’s three full-time and 10 part-time parking enforcement officers, who patrol the University’s parking facilities and issue tickets, Capt. James Grimes, senior assistant director of Public Safety, said.

To defuse potential confrontation and remain cheerful, members of the Parking Services team share humor and also support each other when things are not going smoothly, Tuttle said.

“Just getting a ‘Thank you’ is enough,” Tuttle said. “It just uplifts everybody. If somebody hears something positive, we share it, and, if there is something negative, we share it, too. We are a very close family, and you need that when you are working in a situation where you serve the public.”

Larry Thornton, director of Public Safety, praised Parking Services staff for maintaining a pleasant working environment and serving the public under challenging circumstances.

“In the parking business, you can’t make everybody happy all the time,” Thornton said. “The staff members thus do a tremendous job of dealing with customer complaints. I’m very proud of the parking operation. They provide a key service to the campus, and they do it in a friendly way. They go out of their way to make it as easy as possible. It takes the right temperament to do that.”

Larry Thornton, director of Public Safety: “I’m very proud of the parking operation. They provide a key service to the campus, and they do it in a friendly way.”

Rudnick, a records specialist, said maintaining the right frame of mind makes her job easier.

“You always try to remember that they are not angry with you; they are angry about the situation,” Rudnick said. “You let it roll off your back. Every day is different—I’ve been here 15 years, and every day, something new that I have never heard about comes up.”

Corcoran, a senior records specialist who handles online parking transactions, said the Parking Services division plays multiple roles.

“You come in contact with a wide variety of people, some happy and some not so happy,” she said. “We try very hard to accommodate them and to give people options. You have to like people. For the most part, we work very hard to represent Public Safety and Parking Services in the best light.”

Corcoran also facilitates the appeal process, and she deals with cases that can be quickly resolved.

“If it’s something that I can deal with, I call the person and take care of it.”

UD’s three full-time and 10 part-time parking enforcement officers strive to keep their cool when writing tickets.

Parking regulations create an orderly system for all motorists who use vehicles when coming to campus and ensure that emergency vehicles and equipment have immediate access to all campus locations, Thornton said.

“If we didn’t enforce parking regulations, we would have parking chaos,” Thornton said. “We would have road rage and parking rage.”

The Parking Services team includes 50 cashiers at the pay-to-park lots at the Visitors Center, Trabant University Center and Perkins Student Center. The cashiers regularly double as information agents, handing out campus maps, giving driving directions and general University information.

Parking fees and fines support the cost of maintaining the University's parking system, including parking lot maintenance and debt service. A committee of faculty, staff and students reviews parking rates annually and determines if any increase is necessary.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photos by Kevin Quinlan

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