The grace period is over for warning citations, St. Edward’s University Police Chief Rudolph Rendon said.

Students who have not purchased a $240 parking permit for their cars will be subject to fines, and even towing in some situations.

UPD hired a full time parking enforcement officer over the summer, Sandy Sanders, who will be out Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. enforcing parking policies. The university will no longer hire student ticketers.

“We actually had a funded position for this year. It’s a brand new position,” Rendon said. “We trained him all summer long, so [Sanders] is really good.”

Another major change to parking on campus is the location of the campus visitor lot. It used to be just east of the parking garage, but has now moved to directly north of the John Brooks Williams Science Center – North (JBWN).

The 288 spots in the old visitor lot is now open to any vehicle with a permit. In addition, the parking lot directly south of the Woodward Office Building is now open to anyone with a permit.

There are 2,599 commuter, staff, faculty and residential spaces on campus, according to UPD. There are 100 handicapped spots and 52 visitor, motorcycle and reserved spaces.

Some students have approached the Student Government Association about parking, Dominick Namis, an SGA senator, said.

“The problem with parking isn’t necessarily that we have too little, it’s that students aren’t properly informed about where and where not to park,” Namis said. “I believe that it is the responsibility of facilities to properly inform students about parking related issues.”

However, Rendon does say certain exceptions can be considered, especially as this is the first year for the program.

“We’re pretty lenient about leaving tickets when it comes to miscommunication,” Rendon said.

All of the citations issued are electronic and they feed right into the automated system. It gives a more accurate recording of the citation. Students will also receive an e-mail if they are ticketed.

The new tickets are run through the Rydin software system, a system in which all UPD officers are trained to use.

Hand written tickets were used in the past. 

If you have a parking permit, the device, which looks similar to an iPad mini, can pull up all of the vehicle information, Sanders said.

“I have to enter all the information myself and then I can just hit save citation and print citation,” Sanders said.

UPD will be abandoning the 24/7 parking enforcement policy from previous years. 

Parking permits will now be enforced Monday through Friday starting at 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. After 7 p.m. and on weekends, parking permits will not be enforced except in residence lots, which are designated for cars with red permits, as well as reserved spaces with orange permits.

These red spaces are dedicated to everyone that lives on campus. The orange reserved spaces are reserved to those that purchased them,  which comes with a premium price. 

If a student receives a ticket, they have 10 business days to file an appeal. The process of the fine being added to a student’s account will stop once an appeal is submitted. The SGA Student Court of Appeals will decide what to do next, Rendon said.

Sanders said there is a $30 ticket for parking in the wrong lot if you have a permit already. And a $240 fine for any car with no permit.

The $240 fine can be waived after an appeal and a purchase of a permit. Last year’s parking permit cost $228.

The revenue from parking tickets goes back into the university’s general funds, said Rendon.

“And it is used to pay the debt service (annual loan payment) on the borrowing that financed the parking garage,” Vice President of Financial Affairs Kim Kvaal said.