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The WVU Coliseum is split into three lots on the ParkMobile app: 5920, 5921 and 5922.

The WVU Coliseum is split into three lots on the ParkMobile app: 5920, 5921 and 5922.

Jenna Carpenter is a non-traditional, part-time student who lives and works full-time nearly 30 minutes from campus.

She was told that her degree could be completed entirely online. However, there are some courses that have only been offered in-person each semester, forcing her to commute.

Depending on what her work schedule will allow, she typically needs to drive — and park — in Morgantown two to three times a week.

Now that the University has implemented a parking fee at the Coliseum, which was the last free parking lot on campus, she said she is now spending more during her weekly commute.

“With the new Coliseum parking fee, it’s like I’m being penalized for not being a traditional student who lives in Morgantown,” Carpenter wrote in a message to the Daily Athenaeum.

Students at WVU are facing rising costs due to inflation, increases in tuition and, now, parking fees. Commuting students like Carpenter, however, face extensive drives each week that have become even more burdensome with higher gas prices; and unlike students near campus, public transportation is not always an option and parking is a necessity.

“It costs more to feed yourself, more to house yourself, more to get yourself to campus, and they’re just going to add on more to that,” Carpenter said. “I’m working in a position where the $1.25 a day isn’t going to break me, but I understand that I’m not a typical, traditional student.”

For the first time ever, students and employees are paying to park at the WVU Coliseum. The …

Jonah Nieschwitz, who lives in Ohio, already pays more than students living on campus, as he is not eligible for in-state tuition or in-state scholarships.

He had the advantage of attending classes online for the past few years due to the accommodations of the pandemic, although having all courses “back to normal” is making that less possible.

Since Nieschwitz has a long commute, it was convenient for him to be able to park at the Coliseum for free for an entire day while walking and taking the PRT between classes. Now, he has tried finding alternatives.

“The charge is not a terrible amount. It's $1.25 when you add the service fee. For me, it’s having to repeat that action every time I want to park. That's the frustrating part,” he said.

Nieschwitz said he wonders if there are better ways the University could have charged students. For example, quietly adding an amount to the existing tuition raise to pay for renovations without creating a separate fee.

“I think any college student would get bent out of shape when a university asks them for more money after the amount of money we do give them already,” he said.

Even more frustrating than the fee itself for Nieschwitz is the ParkMobile app.

Unlike most daily parking lots around campus, the Coliseum does not provide a parking payment machine. This means, in order to pay for parking, a student must enter sensitive license plate and credit card information into the app, which is then saved.

Brandyn Johnson, who commutes from Wheeling, West Virginia on a diesel truck, said he wishes commuting students were given an earlier notice about the fee to prepare.

The announcement came at the beginning of August, in the same month that classes would start for the Fall 2022 semester. This meant students would have less than two weeks to prepare alternate parking or transportation arrangements, as well as prepare for the impact the new fee would have on their budget.

“There was a period in my life as a commuter student that every dollar mattered. I would’ve had to choose between this dollar a day or a meal,” a WVU alumni wrote in a response to the DA on Reddit. “They should’ve worked harder to find a better solution to pay for transportation related expenses. It’s unacceptable to not provide a free parking option for students. Even an introduction of a low income student free parking program would be better than nothing.”

Commuter Student Programs coordinator, Brian Walker, said while they cannot provide extra parking spaces for commuter students, they can still help.

Walker said these students typically have responsibilities like outside jobs and family duties and are disconnected from campus life. Commuter Student Programs can provide students with information about the University, including transportation options while on campus, as well as a “homebase” for them to find community.

Commuter Student Programs holds two lounges, one on the downtown campus and one at Mountaineer Station, where students will also be offered opportunities for social outings, access to online events, feminine products, travel size hygiene products and even daily storage space.

Walker said that, while the program is geared towards freshman commuters in cohorts, the program is available to all commuter students.

More information about WVU Commuters can be found on their website, in their lounges on the downtown campus or in the Mountaineer Station, or on their social media platforms.

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