The new parking structure near the University Union may be reserved for students as one of three options forwarded by a university committee on parking and fees.

The ad hoc committee, comprised of students, staff and faculty, assembled to develop a fair parking policy, was hard-pressed to come up with a single solution to inequities created by a $22.50 fee hike levied on students by the university for the fall semester.

The California Faculty Association and the California State Employees Association refused a parking fee increase under terms of their recently settled contracts.

The plan to reallocate the number of close-in student parking spaces from the current standard of 80 percent student and 20 percent faculty ratio, to 85 percent to students and 15 percent to faculty and staff is the committee?s worst-case scenario.

Parking Structure II, according to this option, would be for students only, said Val Smith, who chaired the ad hoc.

According to Smith, the best solution is for Sacramento State?s President, Donald Gerth, and local CFA and CSEA leadership to petition to resume negotiation for a local variance in the Union contracts.

Such a move would allow for a raise in staff and faculty parking fees for Sac State staff and faculty, exclusive of the statewide contract.

The Faculty Senate passed a resolution last Thursday demanding that the leadership of CFA and CSEA meet with officers of the CSU system immediately to agree on an amendment to the present contract.

Donald Hall, a professor of physics and astronomy who introduced the resolution, said that the union contract stands in the way of many faculty who are willing to have their parking fees raised along with that of the students.

“The great majority of faculty are acutely embarrassed at the thought of their parking fees being lower than those for students, and are entirely willing to raise those fees to parity,” Hall said.

Gerth has endorsed the Faculty Senate?s resolution, according to Smith.

Smith said that he hopes that this first option will be a success.

“The committee as a whole believes that the preferred situation would be that everyone pay an equal amount for parking next semester,” Smith said.

As a fall back, the committee has recommended implementing a new type of “premium parking” permit that can be purchased at the price of the new student permits, and will allow permit holders to park in close-in parking lots.

This type of permit will allow staff and faculty to pay the same fee as students and park in preferential parking spaces.

Under a premium parking plan, however, faculty would not have exclusive parking close to the center of campus, which they have now.

If this recommendation goes into effect, University Transportation and Parking Services will reallocate parking spaces based upon the number of “premium parking” permits sold, Smith said.

That option, Smith said, would make it so that almost everyone would be paying the same price for parking permits.

Send comments, questions, or concerns to [email protected]

For questions or information regarding thesite, please contact [email protected]