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REBUTTAL BY DAVID DABNEY, VP
by Don Wedding and Walt Olson, UT-AAUP Executive Board
Below is a rebuttal by VP David Dabney to our UT-AAUP parking newsletter of August 21, 2011. We respectfully note the following points concerning Mr. Dabney's letter and the new parking system:
1. The parking services email address given by Mr. Dabney is incorrect.
2. The UT-AAUP attempted to get parking information from the Jacobs Administration before the first AAUP parking newsletter was published, but we were stonewalled which is the typical practice of President Jacobs and his team. After no response, the UT-AAUP newsletter was written based on what was (and is) published online by the Jacobs Administration.
3. Mr. Dabney says that students have been positive about the new parking system. He offers no support for this statement.
4. Mr. Dabney says that UT has spent tens of thousands of dollars every year on plastic hang tags. We did a quick survey and found that 60,000 hang tags in color would cost a total of $923.50 with a five day delivery. Mr. Dabney is a financial VP and can calculate that UT can purchase hang tags for 190 years for the same price of the new system.
5. Mr. Dabney has not given the support costs for the new system.
6. Mr. Dabney says that the system may be enhanced in the Spring for more than one vehicle registration. Why not now?
7. Mr. Dabney does not address the issue of visitors or other persons driving rental cars.
8. Mr. Dabney does not address the issue of disabled drivers with handicap tags. Please see Professor Mark Sherry's UT-AAUP Newsletter #60 of August 23, 2011 that discusses this in depth.
9. It is the practice of the Jacobs Administration to act first and then try to make it work. The old parking system worked, was functional, and was not broken. Based on numerous comments across campus from administrators, faculty, and staff, there are problems with the new parking system. These problems should have been considered in advance of installation, but the Jacobs Administration has again acted unilaterally without asking for feedback from persons outside of Jacobs' inner circle. It is the Lloyd Jacobs celebrated management style of "fire, ready, aim."
Mr. Dabney is welcome to submit a further letter discussing the above and the UT-AAUP will publish it. Meanwhile his rebuttal letter of August 23, 2011 appears below.
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VP David Dabney Rebuttal to UT-AAUP Parking Newsletter
Dear UT Faculty,
On Sunday, you may have received a newsletter from the UT-AAUP. It contained a number of incorrect statements and exaggerations about UT's new parking registration system, and I wanted to write to be sure you have correct information.
As you may have read in UT News and other places, we have purchased a state-of-the-art parking registration system. Instead of a hang tag, we are now able to scan license plates that members of the UT community register in the myUT portal. This system is more cost efficient, more environmentally friendly and sustainable, and, I believe, more consumer-friendly.
For years, UT has spent tens of thousands of dollars every year on plastic hang tags. Additional money was spent mailing them to students. We've made a one-time investment of about $175,000 for the new system and expect to recoup all expenses in just over a year.
At that point, we will no longer be spending mass sums of money on plastic hang tags, and we'll have reduced annual University operations spending thanks to the one-time investment.
Registering your parking permit online also allows you to update your registration status anywhere you have an Internet connection if you drive a different vehicle to UT. It does take a minute to update your registration, but it is certainly easier than having to drive back home or to the mechanic to get your hang tag. We do have plans to enhance the system to enable the registration of more than one vehicle and hope to have that operational by spring semester.
Students have been very positive about the system, and its implementation is entirely in keeping with our efforts to reduce the need for students and others to wait in line for a service that can be more easily and cheaply provided online.
Also, please note that Ohio drivers or any vehicles that have front and rear license plates may park however they choose. Drivers from Michigan or any vehicles that have only one license plate must park so that their license plate faces outward so it can be scanned.
With any new technology, there's always the chance of glitches. But so far the system has been working very well.
Lastly, a newsletter sent on Monday pointed out that UT-AAUP members should be charged $56 and not the $58 they were being charged for a parking permit. There was an error here (the CWA and the UTPPA are both charged $58, and that was the source of the mix-up) and it has been fixed. All UT-AAUP members who purchased a $58 permit will automatically be charged the correct cost of $56.
Many parking questions and answers have been compiled in an FAQ, but if you have additional questions, please e-mail parkingservices@utoledo.edu and we'll get them answered and added to the FAQ.
Sincerely,
David Dabney
CFO and Vice President for Finance
University of Toledo
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