For professor Lynn Higgins, chair of the French and Italian department, scouring the parking lots for half an hour with the faint hope of finding a spot is an unfortunate daily routine. Her quest -- which often leads her to drive behind Dartmouth Hall, by the side of the observatory, behind the Hopkins Center and near the cemetery -- is often in vain and she must resort to paying for a space at the Hanover parking garage. Higgins points to illegal student parking as one of the primary causes of the problem.
"I've counted and I think there are about 30 parking spaces behind Dartmouth hall," she said. "Everyday for about a year, I would walk by the spaces and count the number of cars that did not have parking decals. Over a period of a year, the average was that half of the cars parked in the lot did not have parking permits."
Due to the relatively small number of parking spots located in the core of campus, faculty and staff must park on the perimeter of campus and endure long walks to their offices and classrooms when students occupy the core campus spots.
William Wohlforth, chair of the government department, parks in Dewey parking lot, near the Dartmouth Medical School, which he refers to as "Siberia." Wohlforth said that the escalating parking problem could have an adverse effect on department dynamics.
"There is the worry that if parking becomes too inconvenient people will not come in the office as much," he said. "This undercuts the intellectual community existing within the department."
The office of Facilities Operations and Management issues approximately 2000 green parking decals to faculty and staff. These decals allow them to park in the "core" lots on campus during business hours, according to William Barr, FO&M director of fiscal and auxiliary services.
Graziella Parati, chair of comparative literature and Italian professor, said that the decals do not necessarily ameliorate parking problems.
"I park anywhere I can park," she said. "I think what we have is a permit that we pay for every month to hunt for a parking spot."
The office has developed The Transportation Demand Program to reduce the number of issued decals and alleviate the parking problem. The program subsidizes faculty or staff $30 dollars a month if they turn in their parking permit and find an alternate source of transportation. They are also provided with four one-day parking permits per month, allowing them to occasionally bring their vehicles to campus.
Barr said that the program has helped reduce the demand for parking on campus.
"Right now we have 290 registered in the program," he said. "Dartmouth also plays a roll in making public transportation free, so if you can make $30 a month and ride for free, it's a pretty good deal."
Higgins said that many professors and staff must leave and return to campus several times during the day which makes it difficult to rely on public transportation or carpooling.
"You can't really carpool; everyone has a different schedule," she said. "People who have small children often have to zoom in and out to pick them up from daycare or school."
There are currently no plans to increase the number of spots, according to Barr. For the most part, faculty members agreed that students taking their spaces is the most pressing problem.
"It would be great if students were aware that we have a job to do, getting to work and being at work," Higgins said. "Students should realize that it is in their best interest that we can come to work and not be angry when we get there."
Deborah Nichols, chair of the anthropology department, said that in the long run, Dartmouth should build parking garages along the edge of campus. She also suggested that Dartmouth open up the parking lots of College-owned Greek houses for faculty parking during the day.
Higgins said that although students disregard spots reserved for faculty and staff, they honor those reserved for the handicapped.
"I had a handicapped tag for a couple of months after an injury," she said. "It was wonderful! It's very tempting to do something again."
