Brittney Toves, a junior majoring in anthropology, noticed something different as she drove through the gates of the University of Guam on the first day of the fall semester. Toves found it difficult to find an available parking spot. The grassy areas near the School of Nursing and Health Sciences Building, where people parked last semester, were closed.

Toves drove further from the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, until she finally managed to find one near the Administration Building. Like many students returning from the summer break, Toves received a notice about the parking lot and changes.

On Aug. 1, 2015, the University of Guam’s Student Life Office sent students an email regarding the revised parking policy. Attached to the email were two documents. The first document was a map of UOG showing where the two overflow parking areas were designated. The second document was a copy of the revised parking policy.

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According to Jonas D. Macapinlac, director of integrated marketing communications at UOG, there has been a steady increase of student enrollment in the last four years.

“Last fall we had about 3,958 students, and that’s the most of any fall semester we have ever had,” Macapinlac said. ” This semester we are even looking at more than that, probably breaking the 4,000 mark.”

More students are choosing to come to UOG. More people means more traffic. “The school is expanding, not just by enrollment but growing with more facilities.” Macapinlac said. “We have looked at large pieces of lands that can be used as parking.”

There are currently two overflow parking areas. One is located near the Fieldhouse, where it is already used as parking for events such as commencement.

The second is located a few spaces from the paved roads across the Lecture Hall, HSS building, and English and Communications building. Expanding the Student Center, creating an Engineering Annex, and a President’s Grove near the Health and Science buildings are also in future plans.

According to Macapinlac, there have been a number of concerns students have brought up about the two overflowing parking areas.

The first concern is that the parking lots are far from the classes. It gets too hot or when it rains these are prone to flood or get really muddy. Plans to place gravel on these areas have already been thought out.

Due to future construction projects, these overflow parking areas will be frequently used. The second concern is if there will be more parking areas available, and some people say these areas become overcrowded too. Macapinlac explained that when the university was looking at large pieces of land to use for parking, the areas chosen were the best.

“We now have well over 2,300 parking slots available on campus,” Macapinlac said. “This is sufficient, but we will continue to monitor.”

The parking lot policy has been revised to include specific terms such as ticketing and towing at the owner’s expense.

Citations that are given only serve as a warning. Tickets are issued by the Guam Police Department and all rules and fees apply. A towing company can also be called to tow vehicles. The most recent common violations have included cars that are parked illegally at the motorcycle/scooter section, ADA parking, and on the islands or non-designated parking areas.

According to Macapinlac, so far, only seven vehicles have been towed. Macapinlac and Okada’s main concern is safety. “

We want to thank the University community for recognizing our parking policy and following the guidelines” Macapinlac said.

Okada added: “That’s a good point, given the number of vehicles we have seen, we estimated 98-99% of the people who come here for whatever reason are trying to make the policy work and that’s just great.  That is really important and enlightening to see.”