Believe it or not, the new process for buying De Anza parking permits was supposed to make life easier. Before this quarter, students could add parking permit fees to their enrollment fees and pay for them at the same time they paid their tuition. It was easy for students, but a hassle for the five campus security staff mailing out thousands of student and staff permits.
“It was very labor intensive,” said Ben Rodriguez, assistant director of campus safety and security. “Now students just have to buy it online. They can even print out the invoice. It saves them another trip to campus.”
Credentials Inc., a decal management company that handles parking permits in colleges all over California, handles the permit payments online and mails the decals out, adding a shipping and handling fee that ranges from $2.85 to $6.
Getting a parking decal now means jumping though a few extra hoops during registration, as many unprepared students found out in the line for the cashier during the fi rst week of classes.
There’s no more walk-up service for permits; to pay for a parking decal at the cashier’s office students must pre-order one through De Anza’s online registration system, then stand in line to receive it. During the first week of classes, many confused students waiting in line to get parking permits were turned away from the cashier’s office and told to return after they reserved permits through the De Anza Website.
“Sometimes students don’t get how they can order online,” said student cashier Hai Nguyen. “It’s not that convenient for students.” Not surprisingly, some students took out their frustration on cashiers.
“They get mad at me,” said student cashier Thong Aguyen, “and say that it’s stupid, and all kinds of stuff.”
Ben Rodriguez understands that the system isn’t perfect, but he says he’s working on it. In a couple of weeks, he said, Foothill and De Anza cashiers will meet with accounting staff and personnel from registration and data processing to discuss what went right, what went wrong and what needs refining. Once the kinks are worked out, he thinks the new decal system will help cashiers serve students better.
“I want the cashiers to have to deal with … people problems,” he said, “and not just blanket problems like a parking permit.”
