Faculty/Staff Parking lot outside the KSU Rec Center. September 14th, 2025. Photo Credit: Tye Brown/The Sentinel
How have the faculty and staff been impacted this semester by parking issues?
Students have dealt with packed parking lots and no parking spaces this semester, but how has the staff been faring this semester?
The University System of Georgia has decided that professors must be on college campuses during core campus hours. With this in place, more Kennesaw State University professors will have to be on campus for longer periods of time.
Two different KSU professors told The Sentinel about their experience with parking this semester. Arriving on campus early in the morning, faculty parking can easily be found. However, arriving later, parking may be more difficult, resulting in circling to find a spot.
Parking spaces for faculty and staff were added with the intention of avoiding this issue, but their impact has been unclear.
KSU has expanded parking on campus, but even with these additions, finding spaces during peak hours can be difficult.
Dr. Albert Way, a professor of History, has a positive parking experience during the early morning; however, it depends on the time.
“It’s pretty easy for me, simply because I arrive around 8:00 am. On the rare days when I arrive later, or if I have to leave campus and come back, then yes, I have to circle for a while before I find a spot.”
Dr. Way is not alone in this experience. A fellow history professor, Dr. Brian Swain, has a similar experience.
“If I arrive during peak hours [of 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM], I usually cannot find a faculty spot in the west deck. If I arrive before or after peak hours, I can almost always find a spot.”
Paying $10 a month for access to either a shuttle lot or an economy lot, or $23 for parking access on either campus, does not mean faculty or staff will avoid overcrowding
Parking spaces for faculty have been expanded to aid the influx of professors. The recent parking additions might have eased parking issues; however, the parking experience demonstrates the need for more parking not only for students, but also for faculty.
The expansion should have helped alleviate the parking issues, however, the expansion was not as successful as the administration had hoped.
Dr. Swain’s concern over this expansion relates to the students and the overall need for more parking.
“I do not think we can continue to convert student spots to faculty spots without creating more total parking. Merely converting spots both shifts the problem to students and exacerbates it. It is unfair and unsustainable. More parking is needed.”
Dr. Swain is not alone in this sentiment, and it applies not only to the teachers but to the students as well. Parking has become an overall issue for all who park or even ride the bus, and an issue that continues into the semester.
