Inside Iowa State
March 8, 1996
Madden: Parking issue needs campus discussion
by Linda Charles
No decisions have been made on a recent parking report, Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden assured the Faculty Senate during the March 5 meeting.
The report stems from a study done by Rich and Associates, Southfield, Mich. It includes several recommendations, ranging from doing nothing to building parking ramps on campus. A recommendation that calls for moving more faculty and staff parking to the Iowa State Center to free central campus parking for students and visitors has sparked the most discussion. Under the recommendation, about 650 more faculty and staff would be transported to central campus by a shuttle service.
Hamilton Cravens, professor of history and chair of the Faculty Senate Council on Faculty Development and Administrative Relations, drew a laugh from the senators when he commented, "The notion of shuttling isn't widely popular."
Madden said the administration wants to solicit opinions from the entire campus community before a final decision is made.
"We are serious about getting input. We want to have a system that meets all of our needs," he said.
According to the consultants, there actually are enough parking spaces on campus, he said, but they aren't in the places people want to park.
The consultants will return to campus March 21-22 for two campus open forums. They will discuss their report and field questions on the recommendations.
Madden added that, in his opinion, the parking solution will include a combination of parking ramps, improved shuttle service for those who want to use it, more surface parking on the outskirts of campus and increased fees for some parking places.
A few senators, such as senate vice president Joanna Courteau, professor of foreign languages and literatures, promoted expanding public transit, both on campus and in Ames.
"It worries me that we're going to pave the entire city of Ames and turn it into a parking lot," she said.
SHARED GOVERNANCE
Senate president Ron Peters reported on concerns about the process that led to the recent dissolution of Engineering Fundamentals and Multidisciplinary Design, a College of Engineering unit that taught entry-level courses.
College administrators said a major reason for the dissolution was concerns about future recruitment and faculty development because the unit could not award tenure to new faculty. The unit's faculty members are being assigned to other departments within the college.
Peters said the decision to dissolve the unit didn't incorporate the principles of shared governance in the development of the college's strategic plan. Faculty of the college should have been consulted before the decision was made, he added.
Provost John Kozak agreed principles of shared governance were not upheld in this case. "It needs to be restated emphatically that we must rely on shared governance," he said. "Let there be no mistake about this. This is ultimately my responsibility."
He added that shared governance gives faculty absolute authority over defining the curriculum and choosing their colleagues.
OTHER BUSINESS
The task forces are expected to complete their work next fall. Nominations for the task forces, which will include students and staff, should be sent to the Faculty Senate Office, 103 Lab of Mechanics.
The next senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in 2532 Veterinary Medicine.
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Revised 3/7/96 URL: http://www.iastate.edu/ general/releases/parking.html |