Have no fear, Juan Vela is here
Parking has been a topic for years on campus, from not being able to find a parking spot to having to park a great distance from a building in which you have class.
Student Government Association (SGA) Senator Juan Vela has a solution to this long-standing obstacle that has been approved by the SGA Senate and taken to campus administrators to be reviewed and acted on in the near future. This proposal is partially in response to the university’s goal of reaching an enrollment of 10,000 students by 2028.
“The first thing we are proposing in the resolution, which is already happening, is the old building Bishop Hall is going to turn into 348 new parking spots so SGA is encouraging that to happen, to have that parking lot right there for the students, and it’s close to the university so students can park their car there and go to their classes in that area. There is going to be a picnic area with a bench where students can wait for their ride or a bus,” SGA Senator Vela said.
Parking far away from a class and not being able to find a parking spot can cause students to be late for a class. This is another major focal point in the solution proposed by Vela.
“Next to Mesquite by the tennis courts, we have parking there but nobody uses it. We have to be realistic. I’m lazy, students are lazy, we don’t want to park our car there and walk to our courses. So, what we are recommending is a shuttle service, so we can add parking there. Yes, we understand it is a little farther – we do understand that, but I was able to speak to the transportation department at UTRGV and they have this shuttle service called The Volt System. This Volt System is just meant for picking up students from the parking lot to take them to their classes,” Vela said.
The transportation system proposed would have to be safety compliant, but Vela has been in close contact with campus officials such as Chief of Business Operation Justin Woodall and University Police Chief Julian Cavazos to ensure the safety of the students within this proposition.
“SGA representative Vela asked to meet with me to discuss the SGA parking resolution. He had already met with Dean of Students (Kirsten) Compary and Director Woodall regarding his resolution. We had a good discussion regarding his proposal and what the university has been doing in moving forward with the project of an additional parking area for students,” University Police Chief Cavazos said.
One of the people Vela worked with was the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs / Dean of Students Kirsten Compary. Compary worked closely with Vela in navigating how to go about addressing the much-needed parking solution.
“The role that I played with Juan was just being a point of information and providing him with advice and direction as he went through the process of trying to develop some thoughts for how parking can be improved through the voice of students on a survey, and through working with SGA as well as working with Mr. Woodall, who is the administrator who oversees parking. So, I was really more of a support and a resource and a sounding board for him more than anything. The ideas in terms of the actual solutions that were proposed came from conversations he had with people in SGA, a parking survey, and conversations he had with several others on campus,” Compary said.
