Student led campaign works to improve campus parking

By Bree Mallory

Valeria Rosario, a junior at Flagler College, is a commuter student that lives a little over 45 minutes away from campus. 

“I gotta be here, at least, 15 minutes before class just to find parking and make the walk to class,” she said.

Rosario, who in past years used to pay for public parking because of how little time she spent on campus, decided to buy a parking pass this year in an attempt to save money. However, even if she leaves on time, finding empty and conveniently located parking spots on campus has proven to be no easy feat for her.

“You cannot rely on the traffic,” she said. “[If I’m] leaving at eight or nine or past eleven, I am gonna be late to class.”

Unfortunately, Rosario’s experience is not unique among Flagler students. 

A very common grievance among students with cars is the quality of campus parking. Many take issue with how quickly the lots fill up, their distance from major academic buildings and the cost of parking permits, which is currently set at $350 a year for resident students and $300 for commuters.

Student Tyler Gamez says the “premium price” students pay for parking is not worth the quality of the parking lots they are offered. 

“If you get here after 9:00 looking for parking, good luck,” Gamez said. “[In most of the commuter lots], nothing is marked, so students just park anywhere. It feels like… Mad Max.”

Because of these complaints, the Better Parking for Students campaign recently formed on campus to address some of these issues.

Created in Professor Natalie Novak’s Crafting Democracy class here on campus, Better Parking for Students is run by students Ryce Nance and Leona Sinkoe.

“One thing I’m especially proud of about this course, and about Flagler College, is the opportunity it gives students to practice leadership in their community,” Novak said. “For students whose campaigns focus on issues at Flagler, like Better Parking for Students, they’re advocating for improvements at a college they love, and administrators have been receptive to their feedback.”

Nance, who actually does not have a car on campus, says they were inspired to want to fix the parking problem because they heard so many of their peers complaining about it.

“When I heard about Flagler, one of the biggest things [people said] was that the parking’s bad. And that can set people off when they’re trying to choose schools,” Nance said. “They might not wanna go because the parking’s bad.”

Better Parking for Students continues the work of several other past campaigns that set out to improve the campus parking experience. One of these campaigns is the Parking Access Project, which was also created in Novak’s Crafting Democracy class last year.

The Parking Access Project, run by five students, met with President John Delaney and Vice President Laura Stevenson-Dumas in Spring 2026 to discuss their campaign demands.

“One of their demands was to lower the cost [of all parking passes] to $300,” Nance said. “And that was agreed upon.”

Despite this, the price of parking permits for resident students was set at $350 for the 2026-2027 school year. Better Parking for Students seeks to discuss this plan again with President Delaney sometime this semester to get it implemented. 

Another thing that Better Parking for Students hopes to achieve is utilizing the extra $50 collected this year from resident students to fund the “Park de Leon” app, pitched by four Hospitality and Tourism Management students in the 2025 Lion’s Cage competition. This app would use “Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) sensors paired with specialized parking stickers” to give students updates on available parking spots and prevent wasting time circling parking lots looking for spots.

“We’re going to try to push the idea to President Delaney, and see what he says,” Nance said.

Better Parking for Students plans to host more tabling events and meetings throughout the semester to involve students in their mission. Those interested can follow @betterfcparking on Instagram to stay in the loop.