August 26, 2005
Fall Classes Beginning Monday, Aug. 29;Construction projects on East and West
Campuses bring increased parking challenges
Students need to allow time to find parking or use other transportation resources;
College providing free RTA services
As the saying goes, “You should always plan ahead.” Del Mar College
students heading to either the East or West Campuses for the first day of classes
on Monday, Aug. 29, should do just that.
Parking has always been an issue on almost any college or university campus each
year. However, Del Mar College has construction projects underway, including the
new Health Sciences and Emerging Technology Complex and the Public Safety Complex
on the West Campus and renovation and expansion of Richardson Auditorium and improvements
to the Central Plant on the East Campus.
Due to these projects, some parking spaces are now unavailable. Students should
plan ahead to get to classes on time by arriving on campus early, carpooling with
friends or using the free service provided to DMC students through a Memorandum
of Agreement between the College and the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation
Authority.
Students have the option to ride RTA buses to Del Mar campuses free of charge
when they show their validated DMC I.D. to bus drivers. Additionally, students
are not limited to using the public transportation system just to get to their
classes. The agreement allows students to ride free to any location, whether it’s
school, work or other locations along RTA routes.
“We’re excited about students returning to Del Mar College this fall,
but they definitely need to plan ahead with respect to parking,” says José
Rivera, Vice President of Student Development. “Parking is going to be at
a premium on either campus, so we encourage students to consider other options,
such as carpooling or using free RTA bus services rather than bringing their own
vehicles to campus.”
Rivera adds, “We apologize for any inconveniences. However, progress sometimes
means making a few sacrifices up front.”
Construction has reduced parking temporarily on both main campuses. As of today,
Aug. 26, estimates show that East Campus parking accommodates approximately 2,680
parking spaces for students; 71 handicapped spaces for students, employees and
individuals visiting the campus; 433 reserved spaces for faculty and staff who
pay a fee, 12 visitor spaces and 13 fifteen-minute spaces. Estimates for the West
Campus show that approximately 410 parking spaces are available to students and
13 additional parking spaces are designated as handicapped.
Current construction on the West Campus has literally cut the campus in half,
according to Dr. Lee Sloan, Dean of that campus and the Division of Occupational
Education and Technology. “Boaz Boulevard divides the camps in half from
North to South with no pedestrian or vehicle traffic available from one side to
the other right now.”
He adds, “Parking will be limited during the first few weeks, but we will
see an ease in the problem when new spaces are released by the contractor to the
College. We also plan to create a temporary pedestrian walkway.”
Sloan also emphasized that individuals planning to participate in the College’s
General Education Development (GED) program should go to the new GED complex located
on Santa Elena on the North side of the campus.
Already, 11,015 students have enrolled in classes for the fall 2005 semester as
compared to 10,512 who registered last fall before late registration. Late registration
for this semester is scheduled for Aug. 29. Last year, over 500 students enrolled
during late registration, and certified enrollment reached 11,345 for fall 2004.
During this past academic year, RTA officials noted that results “significantly
exceeded expectations” with an average of over 264 students using bus services
every day.
RTA operates fixed routes and accessible B-Line curb-to-curb transportation
bus services in Nueces County and parts of San Patricio County that directly
and indirectly serve the College’s East and West Campuses and the Center
for Economic Development, which is located at Kostoryz and Staples. Students
can ride between the East and West Campuses as well as use remote parking at
the Center and then catch a ride down Staples (Routes 17 and 29) to the East
Campus.
Through the Memorandum of Agreement, Del Mar will pay RTA $11,000 using funds
from Student Services fees collected by the College. The Student Fees Committee,
which includes both students and Del Mar staff, agreed to use those funds “to
reimburse RTA for all fares and expenses that may be lost or incurred for this
program for the full period of the [agreement].” The agreement runs Aug.
29 and continues through Aug. 31, 2006.
To find out more about RTA’s bus routes, go to their Web site at www.ccrta.org
or call the RTA Customer Service Representatives at 883-2287 for route information.
-DMC-mce
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CRO News Releases
(Editor’s Note: In May 2002, the College’s Office of Institutional
Research and Effectiveness conducted a survey of East Campus parking and found
that approximately 2,700 parking spaces were available to students. The estimate
did not include handicap (76), reserved (412) or visitor (12) spaces as well
as an additional 95 regular and 4 handicap spaces that opened at the Center
for Early Learning in fall 2002. Research showed that peak attendance time during
Spring 2002 was at 10 a.m., especially on Thursdays with 3,142 students attending
class at that time. These figures have changed since the capital improvement
projects for the Central Plant and Richardson Auditorium began on the East Campus.)