Gordon Gee about to hurt future Ohio State students and faculty (Florida: lease, school)

[buckeyejacket]

I am not sure if anyone else on these forums has been following this, but the school administration is pushing forward with steps to sell off rights to OSU parking for up to 50 years in exchange for a lump sum payment. While it would be nice to have an additional 400 million dollars to play with, the selling of these services to another company will ensure that some sum much larger than whatever the lump sum is will be taken from students and faculty in years to come. These companies are offering these huge sums because they know there's far bigger money to be made, and they have the long-term planning and patience to be able to wait for these gains.

The vast majority of the student body and the faculty have expressed their unhappiness with these plans, and Gee is ignoring everyone. In fact, he is not just ignoring everyone, he's sending out misleading emails that imply that everyone actually supports these measures to try to get people to stop complaining.

It's a very sad day for any current OSU students, faculty and staff, and an even sadder one for those of us planning to send our children there one day in the future, because those children will be the ones really paying the price for Gee's short shortsightedness and greed.


Ohio State action expected on parking privatization bids - Campus - The Lantern - Ohio State University

[Bo]

So find another place to park, or take the bus, if you don't like what they're doing with the campus parking. Parking is not a birthright. Lots of campuses have expensive parking.

[buckeyejacket]

Originally Posted by Bo

So find another place to park, or take the bus, if you don't like what they're doing with the campus parking. Parking is not a birthright. Lots of campuses have expensive parking.

I already take the bus, that's not the point. Heck, by the time the changes are fully implemented and the major hikes come in, I'll be long gone. But again, that's not the point. You can't run a university for centuries on the "as long as it doesn't hurt me, it's not a problem" philosophy. The problem isn't the cost of parking, it's that he's trading a ton of future revenue for a quick payoff. I don't mind if parking is expensive and the money is going to go back into the university as it does now. I mind him trading a bunch of future revenue for a lump sum of cash that he can play with in the short term. It hurts the university and it hurts the students and faculty, and the only people it helps is the current administration and the private company they bring in to get rich off of OSU students and faculty. No one's asking him to cut the cost of parking, they're just asking that he not raise it and just give the money away for decades to come because it will help him in the short term.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by buckeyejacket

No one's asking him to cut the cost of parking, they're just asking that he not raise it and just give the money away for decades to come because it will help him in the short term.

I just don't have sympathy for anyone who complains about parking at Ohio State. I have a friend who works there who used to work with me at another Big Ten university. He said the parking situation for employees there is a million times better than the ridiculous parking situation we had to deal with on the campus where we worked. (He and I only qualified for campus parking that was over 2 miles away from our office at that other campus. After 8 years, I had enough seniority to qualify for parking that was a mile away and cost $700/year.)

The pay is worse, but the parking is a dream. Why does it matter who runs it... unless you work for the campus as a parking attendant?

[buckeyejacket]

Originally Posted by Bo

I just don't have sympathy for anyone who complains about parking at Ohio State. I have a friend who works there who used to work with me at another Big Ten university. He said the parking situation for employees there is a million times better than the ridiculous parking situation we had to deal with on the campus where we worked. (He and I only qualified for campus parking that was over 2 miles away from our office at that other campus. After 8 years, I had enough seniority to qualify for parking that was a mile away and cost $700/year.)

The pay is worse, but the parking is a dream. Why does it matter who runs it... unless you work for the campus as a parking attendant?

Why does it matter who runs it? Because in one situation, all of the money goes to make OSU better. In another situation, a fraction goes to OSU, and another (large) fraction goes to an outside company. IE OSU will lose a ton of money that will lead to development.


Please re-read what I wrote. This is not a thread complaining about OSU parking prices. It's a thread about giving away tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in future funds that could be used for development simply because Gee want's a quick payday. I don't know how many other ways I can explain it, so if you read this and think it is simply still just a gripe about parking prices, re-read what I wrote so far in this thread.

[rrtechno]

Under his plan, who is responsible for maintenance costs?

[buckeyejacket]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

Under his plan, who is responsible for maintenance costs?

They haven't settled on a proposal yet and still haven't figured out how to fund bus services etc under a lease program. I would be surprised if they accept any proposal that requires them to continue maintenance (other than roads etc). Usually parking privatization includes the company that takes it over handling things like metering and such.

[SCarlisle]

Ijust hope Miami U (NOT THE OTHER MIAMI IN FLORIDA) beats OSU in the opener this year.