Two parking lots that were once faculty and staff parking at the front of the school on Desiard Street now have two rows each designated for students.
The change adds 50 student spots to lots that were usually empty because faculty and staff did not use them.
According to ULMPD Chief Larry Ellerman, faculty needed those lots when they were constructed. Since then, the number of faculty/staff in these areas changed, and parking freed up.
Some students argue the new spots are still not enough.
“The faculty don’t even use those spaces,” said Misty Owens, a junior secondary education major from West Monroe. “They even left them half of each lot after the change, and most of those spaces are still empty.”
Lance Beeson, a junior kinesiology major from Monroe, said he stopped using the student lots last year because crowded student spots made the empty faculty spots too tempting to resist.
“I think they should have only left that front row that faces the buildings available to the faculty and given the rest to the students,” said Beeson.