Quick Take
UC Santa Cruz faculty are urging campus administrators to pause planned parking fee increases and conduct a formal review after saying they were not consulted before the changes were announced. During a faculty senate meeting Wednesday, Chancellor Cindy Larive apologized for the lack of consultation as the university moves toward implementing a multiyear rate schedule that would raise parking fees 7% to 10% annually starting this summer.
UC Santa Cruz faculty are urging administrators to pause recently announced parking rate increases until a formal review – including consulting the instructors – of the proposed fee hikes is conducted.
The university’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) office plans to implement a new multiyear rate schedule that would start this summer and increase fees by 7% to 10% annually in order to address budget deficits and infrastructure needs.
During the quarterly senate faculty meeting with UCSC administrators Wednesday, Yat Li, chair of the Committee on Faculty Welfare, read a resolution prepared by the committee.
The resolution states that faculty members weren’t consulted prior to the TAPS announcement, representing a lapse in administrators’ understanding of the shared responsibilities they have with faculty in making decisions with this level of impact on the campus. The senate faculty is the governing body made up of UCSC professors who run committees that write policy and make decisions involving curriculum, budgeting and instruction.
The Committee on Faculty Welfare resolution described emails between the committee and Chancellor Cindy Larive and Interim Campus Provost Paul Koch in which the faculty argued for the pause until a review could be done, while the administrators argued that they weren’t required to consult the faculty before the increase.
“The administration’s assertion that senate consultation is not required in this instance is troubling and has significant and far-reaching implications for shared governance on related issues going forward,” the resolution reads.
During the meeting, Larive conceded that administrators should have consulted the faculty senate throughout the process of revising parking rates. “I apologize to you for that error,” she said.
She added that UCSC Chief Financial Officer Ed Reiskin is finalizing a report to the senate faculty by the end of the week and shared the faculty’s concerns with the school’s leadership teams so they understand how to include faculty feedback.
When asked if Larive is considering pausing the increase, university spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason said university officials expect to complete the campus consultation by the July 1 implementation date.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.