An ad hoc committee of Kansas University faculty, students and staff wants to change the university's approach to parking issues.
Instead of the parking department and its director having the authority to approach the chancellor through either the parking board or the university's director of general services, the committee on Tuesday proposed routing all discussion through a single "parking commission."
The committee aims to simplify the current mish-mash of parking rules and regulations, committee members said.
This commission, according to committee leader Tom Mulinazzi, would include representatives from throughout the university community. The commission, he said, also would serve as host of a series of public hearings aimed at soliciting input from those who live near campus.
The proposed change, Mulinazzi said, would provide an avenue for reaching a consensus on parking issues before these issues move up the university's chain of command.
In the past, he said, proposed solutions for various parking woes have been unceremoniously derailed by the university council or the general services office.
"What's happened is the parking board spends a semester and half looking at what ought to be done about parking and then, in a matter of minutes, it's recommendations are or can be shot down by SenEx or University Council," Mulinazzi said. "This would change that."
Mulinazzi, an engineering professor, shared the ad hoc committee's recommendations with the Senate Executive Committee (SenEx) on Tuesday.
SenEx is expected to spend another week reviewing the recommendations before voting on whether to send them on to the University Council.
Most SenEx members appeared to favor the proposal.
Jim Carothers, English professor, praised the ad hoc committee's work, saying he was surprised to learn "this much order could be wrought from so much chaos," referring to the university's parking regulations.
Mulinazzi and others predicted the proposal would be opposed by the parking director's office.
"This would basically bypass them, to put it bluntly," Mulinazzi said.
Parking director Don Kearns could not be reached for comment.
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