This upcoming school year is all about change, and this one will have a big impact. Many students may not know that the school has officially changed the parking policy. This means students will have the freedom to park at any lot available for free.
After brief interviews with new students and returning ones, many said they were pleasantly surprised to hear the news, which they were not aware of.
Mileichali Minaya, 18, Psychology major is new to campus, and although the new parking policy does not exactly pertain to her directly because she doesn’t drive to campus, she was still pleased to know that NECC was taking initiative to help those who do drive to class.
Minaya says, “I don’t drive myself to classes but this will definitely benefit the student body.”
She brought up a good point saying, the closer you allow students to park, the better they can arrive to class efficiently and on time.”
The problem with the old policy seemed to be that students had to calculate arriving to class on time especially when they are parked relatively far from their building.
Although the Haverhill campus is pretty compact, walking from one end to the other is time consuming.
David Gardner, 19, Elementary Education major expressed joy upon hearing the news.
He says, that “although the cost of parking wasn’t too pricey to begin with, it was another inconvenient process that students had to go through.”
Gardner believes that this policy will be “smoother for us students, who pay enough already to attend school.”
Nineteen year old graphic design major, Susan Elias is a returning student who had positive comments about the new policy. “I drive to school on a daily basis, but I have never paid for parking. I wasn’t aware of the new change, I’m glad students don’t have to pay anymore, that’s awesome.”
“I approve of this policy because I don’t find it fair that students have pay for parking just to be able to get to class,” Elias said.
“I think this will be great for the students and maybe more will feel better about driving to school instead of finding alternatives. This also reduces the fear of receiving a ticket for accidentally parking without a pass and will attract more students to our campus.”
New hang tags will be administered to students free of charge when they register for their initial semester. E
very semester, students will have to get stickers for their hang tags that indicates what semester you’ve registered for. The hang tags are interchangeable meaning you can switch in between vehicles. Any students attending orientation will receive their tags there.
Hang tags are to be displayed at all times and are to be hanged on the rearview mirror. If it is stolen or lost, students must report to Enrollment Services and Student Financial Services who administer a new one. T
he hang tags will be available in the Student Success Hub in the Haverhill Campus and the El-Hefni building (44 Common St) in the Lawrence Campus.
NECC faculty members can get their hangtags in the Public Safety pickup locations which are located in the Public Safety desk room in TC-122 in haverhill or at the Public Safety desk on 414 Common street in Lawrence.
Parking for visitors will be located in the Hartleb Technology Center parking lot and specific parking areas will be designated whenever there is an upcoming event. Parking on the Lawrence Campus will be located on 78 Amesbury St. Lot D, the Goudreault Lot C on 414 Common St. and the Dimitry A parking lot on 45 Franklin St. At Riverwalk there is parking on Merrimack Street across from the Riverwalk building.
Students or staff who park in handicapped spaces are not authorized to obtain a hang tag but are encouraged in case handicapped spaces are not prominently available.
