A recent parking change in front of the Campus Center has added 10 desperately needed spots for residents but has also created an issue for prospective students and families interested in visiting the University of La Verne.
Before the change, the spots were reserved for the office of undergraduate admissions’ visitors who were coming to meet with counselors and take campus tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., lasting roughly an hour and a half each.
With ASULV’s recent fight to turn the 10 spots in front of the Campus Center into resident parking because they were not being used frequently enough, undergraduate admissions no longer has a place for prospective students who are visiting campus to park, other than the shuttle lot.
Our argument is not that residents should not have the extra spots, but that admissions needs a place for incoming students to park so they do not have to try to figure out ULV’s parking situation.
The very first impression a university makes on an interested student is during the first campus visit. The experience must be enjoyable and memorable for a student to be impressed and want to come back.
Parking in an unfamiliar shuttle lot off campus and trying to find their way to their meeting point will hardly give prospective students the feeling that they are being welcomed to a friendly and hospitable university.
The admissions office will continue its warm and welcoming attitudes to try to recruit the best students, despite the parking hardship. However, a student’s initial experience with the difficult and confusing parking will negatively effect their mood and set the tone for the rest of the meeting.
While admissions may not need all 10 spaces, all day every day, there needs to be a compromise so that admissions can have at least a few spaces for families to park during their meeting times between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
During the hours admissions does not utilize the parking, students should be allowed to park there, the same way the staff lots work.
If ULV wants to continue growing and bringing in top students, the office of admissions needs to be given the proper resources to make the experience as enjoyable as possible.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.
