Dr. Colin Coyne, now a recognized name by most students in the wake of student responses to rising parking fees, was able to attend SGA Senate this week to speak directly to students.
The topic of discussion was the University’s decision to increase the price of parking to $250 per semester. He also took time to respond to questions and hear the responses of senators and other students in the room.
Coyne began his time at Senate with a preface of context, recognizing that this rise in cost and students’ complaints about it are a “big deal.”
Coyne echoed his previous point, acknowledging a lapse in communication on behalf of the administration regarding these rising costs: “Some communication got ahead of others, which is on us.”
Coyne also responded to student accusations that Samford is raising fees to obtain profit for itself and administrators.
Referring to Samford’s status as a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, Coyne clarified that “Samford, by law, can not profit.” Coyne also mentioned the context of rising costs for many Americans, saying, “Just like the price of your eggs has gone up, the price of our eggs has gone up.”
Coyne specifically noted the challenge in ever raising fees, saying, “If I asked you the question if you would rather pay $10 or nothing, 99.9% of you would say ‘nothing.’”
Coyne also noted why the university increased the parking fee instead of broadly increasing tuition, saying, “100% of our people pay tuition, but not all of our people use parking.”
Addressing the fact that the price of parking has not risen in the past few years, he said, “Perhaps we should have scaled it up over time, but we did not think it was right to charge more when parking was scarce over campus.”
Coyne noted that the university is constantly attempting to manage students’ parking expectations while continuing to meet university growth goals over the next few years.
The administrators recognize that “not only do our students want parking, but they want it right there,” communicating the desire of students to be able to park within short walking distance of their dorms, classes and other responsibilities on campus.
Coyne communicated that the administration also noted the lower-than-expected usage of SamTrams this year, displaying the desire of students to park their own cars closer to their destinations rather than needing to ride a shuttle from a distant parking lot.
Coyne communicated that in the past year, Samford saw an unprecedented influx of students, with an increased retention rate, yield and incoming transfer numbers due to the closing of Birmingham Southern and other factors.
When opening the floor to questions from students, Coyne displayed a desire to engage in open discussion with the student body about challenging issues, saying, “I love this stuff. This is where I would rather be.”
Coyne noted that he has worked to meet with anyone who asks him to, saying, “You cannot find a student that I know of who has asked to meet with me and has not gotten an appointment.”
Coyne welcomes discussion about parking fees, saying, “Parking becomes a good focal point to let out steam on other issues,” later on saying, “It is great to disagree. We must disagree; otherwise we become apathetic.”
Coyne hopes that, out of this ongoing discussion, the communication between the administration and the student body can improve, saying, “If nothing else good is coming out of this, we will improve communication.”
In an email exchange after the meeting, Coyne clarified this point, saying, “We very much would like student input across the spectrum of thoughts before we make policy decisions.”
Coyne explained that “the ultimate responsibility for those decisions will remain with the university.”
Coyne, however, noted that the university should not be making those decisions in vacuums. Coyne plans to meet monthly with one of SGA’s committees to increase student input in university decisions.
As Samford looks to next semester, President Taylor said in an email (April “The 10″ from President Beck A. Taylor), “Despite rumors to the contrary, Samford will have a much-improved parking and dining experience next fall.”
Staff Writer
