Group+C


 * COVER LETTER:**

Blue Hen Consultants Inc. 1000 Courtney Street Newark, DE 19717 Phone: 555-1234

April 16, 2011

Mary Jones University of Delaware Parking Services 100 Academy Street Newark, DE 19717

Dear Mrs. Jones,

Thank you for contacting our firm concerning the problems you have mentioned with parking on the University of Delaware campus and in the city of Newark. The enclosed documents will show how Blue Hen Consultants Inc. could improve the parking structure in order to better serve the students and local community.

The proposal outlines our experience, the extent of your problem, and the services we offer. In addition, you will find a schedule of the adjustments we would make for you.

We are available to speak with you by phone if you have any questions about the proposal. We look forward to working with you, and addressing your parking services problem.

Sincerely,

Dan Guy Jugal Patel Sean Connelly Carl Woodward Blue Hen Consultants


 * PROPOSAL:**

=**Introduction**= Blue Hen Consultants Inc. proposes to assess the parking structure of the University of Delaware and the city of Newark. The proposed plan will research parking policy that could alleviate the stress upon students and Newark's commuters.

=Statement of Problem= The recurring problems among students and commuters are the parking tickets, restricted lots, and steep costs associated with both daily and long-term parking.

Parking policies that govern the University of Delaware and Newark restrict the accessibility of the community. The complicated structure of the policies confuses students and commuters, resulting in parking tickets and fines.

=Objective= By understanding the needs of the people that utilize parking on campus and in Newark, we can create a parking plan that better suits the University of Delaware community. We aim to reduce the number of student parking complaints and the number of parking tickets. After one calendar year with new policies, we want to realize a twenty percent (20%) decrease in the number of issued parking tickets in University of Delaware's lots. We are also interested in evaluating Newark's major parking lots and their respective policies in order to find ways to increase their accessibility to the public. =Procedure=


 * 1) Meet with a parking services representative to discuss existing policies and parking rates, as well as evaluate Delaware's largest and highly populated parking lots. Conduct online research to supplement our field research findings and locate effective rates.
 * 2) Research University of Delaware and Newark parking finances (revenues) to determine price flexibility regarding short- and long-term parking.
 * 3) Draft and release a survey aimed at University of Delaware students about parking on campus. We want to contact approximately 50 non-freshman students through a volunteer survey administered through Facebook. Contacting 50 students will hopefully provide good confidence in our findings, as well as provide several comments to analyze from our "open-ended" question.
 * 4) Collect further information about parking in the city of Newark, as well as two comparable college towns, Towson University and James Madison University.
 * 5) Analyze the information we have collected from researching parking in Newark, Towson, and Charlottesville (JMU).
 * 6) Present to the University of Delaware Parking Services:
 * 7) An analysis of your current parking policies.
 * 8) Our suggestions for new parking policies that will simplify existing policies and make the campus and city more accessible.

=Record of Service= Blue Hen Consultants Inc. has successfully redesigned several policies for the subdivisions University of Delaware and the city of Newark. A list of University of Delaware departments that were previous clients can be provided upon request. We are professionals in analysis and policy structure, so we can be trusted to bring to your attention the policy changed that you need. We have chosen our analysts based on their experience with handling problems such as yours.

=Costs to the University of Delaware= Upon evaluating and researching the parking problem, our suggestions will cost the University of Delaware $2,000. The University of Delaware is paying for Blue Hen Consultants Inc.'s advice pertaining to how to change the parking policies. Our follow-up services, and any subsequent recommendations regarding the parking issue, will come free of charge.

=Schedule= Week of April 25th Week of May 2nd Week of May 9th May 16th
 * Meet with University Parking Services representative
 * Meet with University financial officer
 * Visit all lots (or lots of key interest) to collect data
 * Draft survey
 * Release survey, and collect survey data
 * Research parking policy at comparable colleges
 * Tabulate and analyze survey data
 * Analyze research data
 * Presentation to University of Delaware Parking services. Findings and recommendations discussed.

=REPORT=

**COVER LETTER:**

Blue Hen Consultants Inc. 1000 Courtney Street Newark, DE 19717 Phone: 555-1234

May 2, 2011

Mary Jones University of Delaware Parking Services 100 Academy Street Newark, DE 19717

Dear Mrs. Jones,

Enclosed is the University of Delaware's Increased Parking Efficiency Performance Report. The report contains a review of existing and recommended parking policies for the University of Delaware.

Parking policies at the University of Delaware and at other similar schools are evaluated on the characteristics of cost, accessibility, and commuter satisfaction with parking policy.

It is our hope that this report will provide you with the information needed to assess the effectiveness of the existing parking policy at the University of Delaware. As always, we are available for contact by phone should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Dan Guy Jugal Patel Sean Connelly Carl Woodward Blue Hen Consultants

= REPORT COVER = = =

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

**Introduction**…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Determination of Costs……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Determination of Accessibility…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Determination of Commuter Satisfaction…………………………………………………………………………………………….
 * Executive Summary**………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
 * Procedure**……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
 * Survey**……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
 * Conclusion**..................................................................................................................................................................................

=EXECUTIVE SUMMARY=

This report analyzes the costs and accessibility of the parking lots, and the commuters' level of satisfaction with parking policies at the University of Delaware and a two other comparable schools. The purpose of this report is to provide the University of Delaware Parking Services department with the information that is necessary to modify existing policy and make parking lots more effective.

A major concern among students at the University of Delaware relates to a lack of campus accessibility and the subsequent parking violations. The high-volume and accessibility needs of parking facilities greatly exceeds the current supply, and the average University of Delaware student or staff member has a difficult time parking on or near campus.

As a result of poor parking policy at the University of Delaware, students and staff are realizing heavy fines and inconvenience when trying to navigate campus. Inefficient restrictions on lots have led to increased frustration among students and faculty, usually on the part of inconvenience or even parking tickets. Discouraging the use of cars at the University of Delaware can have a negative effect, from both the financial and convenience standpoints.

The parking lots and parking policies researched in this report were analyzed on basis of cost, accessibility, and commuter satisfaction.

Costs were measured using online information supplied by each respective school's parking services website. Full year costs were used to standardize our measurements, rather than costs given on a semester-long basis. This precaution was taken to alleviate any bias in schools that may not offer permits based on semester structure.

Accessibility was evaluated based on a thorough review of each school's lot policy. Lots with few restrictions that are available for parking are more accessible lots.

Commuter satisfaction is measured by the community's overall feelings toward parking on campus. More satisfied commuters will find that parking on campus is easy from both an accessibility standpoint and a cost standpoint. Since our survey deals with commuters at the University of Delaware, this parameter is covered heavily in our survey's results, and is a more qualitative factor.

Our recommendations for altering parking policy at the University of Delaware to increase accessibility and satisfaction while reducing costs include:

The quickest and easiest solution is to simply add more parking lots. Rather than devoting available space to a new building around the University, it could be instead used to build a new parking lot that can be accessed by everyone on campus from students to faculty. While this solution would be on the expensive side, when thinking long term, UD would benefit from a new parking lot by providing more parking space to commuters and visitors alike. More space for parking means less congestion in other lots.

According to our research, there are many more parking lots devoted to only the faculty of the University. These faculty lots are typically right in the heart of campus, and make parking in the heart of campus very difficult. Students and visitors to the university are expected to park and use the Shuttle bus to move around campus. While this is more efficient, not all students normally remain on campus for long periods of time. It would be better to allow students to access some of these restricted lots at a small fee or cost. Access to these restricted lots would allow students to park for a limited time near a building they need access too, in addition to taking away traffic from more busy lots.

There are many lots that are also only accessible by students who have a certain amount of credits. This usually consists of 100+ credits which only a small population of UD students have. If these lots were opened up to a population of the student body with a range of 50-80 credits, there would still be regular spaces open for those who use these lots while also maximizing the use of these lots.

From our research of other universities such as Townson and JMU, we discovered that these schools use permits for every single lot rather than for individual choice lots like at the University of Delaware. Visitors are given a temporary parking permit free of charge from Parking Services. This is a great strategy when trying to reduce the cost of parking for students and faculty at UD. A single permit for every lot allows for all lots to be accessed by everyone while allowing prices to remain the same for every lot.

These suggestions above allow UD to maximize the use of all parking lots while at the same time reducing the amount of congestion and traffic at each of the current lots. More space will be available to all students whether they are commuters who stay for a few hours or a visitor who remains at the University for only a few minutes. More of the restricted lots being opened up to all students and faculty also allows those who need to quickly access a building on campus to park nearby and get in and out in a timely manner.

= = =INTRODUCTION=

The purpose of this report is to provide the University of Delaware Parking services department with the information necessary to assess the best combinations of parking policies that govern the university's parking lots. Ideally, our findings will alleviate the stress associated with parking at the university for the students and staff.

The recurrent problems with parking on campus are the excessive costs, the fines associated with unlawful parking in restricted lots, and the low satisfaction rate among current commuters.

Parking revenue at the University of Delaware is based on the costs and quantity of people who wish to use the University of Delaware's lots. The ability for the University of Delaware to realize its largest likely parking revenue is jeopardized by high costs and the restrictive parking policies which make parking on campus difficult.

Current parking policy has caused more people to experience fines, and consequently to move off campus and experience "free" parking. Parking policy and costs have discouraged students from taking and/or keeping their car on campus. Lots near University buildings with high traffic such as the lot near McKinly Hall are not accessible to all students. Due to this lot and many others being very inaccessible and expensive, the students tend to move to off campus lots that are free or lots owned by the city (there is one nearby the Green) which tend to be cheaper by nearly $.50 cents an hour.

The University of Delaware needs parking policy that finds an appropriate medium. Costs, accessibility, and traffic moderation all have to reach an appropriate medium in order to maximize commuter satisfaction at the University of Delaware. Currently, costs are too high, there are too many restrictions on parking lots, and heavy traffic patterns make driving at the University very difficult at times. During the mid-morning hours, campus is known to have high volumes of traffic. The biggest parking spaces such as Trabant garage tend to have high costs at nearly $1.50 every hour. Students tend to move to parking meters and the city parking lot which tend to be cheaper. This causes the lots and meters around campus to be full and inconveniencing to students who may require these spaces for their proximity to nearby buildings.

At the University of Delaware Parking Services' request, the Blue Hen Consultants have evaluated a few different schools' parking policies based on cost, accessibility, and commuter satisfaction. These schools were selected from the University of Delaware's athletic conference, and screened on the basis of a comparable undergraduate population and its college-town properties. We selected James Madison University and Towson University for our review.

Our decision involves the assessment of both quantitative and qualitative variables to reach an appropriate recommendation of parking policies for the University of Delaware's situation. Complex comparisons have been reduced to small comparisons that will evaluate policy at the University of Delaware to comparable schools. Additionally, the qualitative and quantitative results of our survey will also suggest what changes the University of Delaware community value the most.

The information found in this report details our findings about current parking policy, and highlights our recommended changes. These changes are suggested to help Parking Services focus less on the school's needs and more on the students and staff by alleviating costs, and increasing accessibility through parking at the University of Delaware.

=PROCEDURE=

Determination of Costs
Cost was measured through online research on each college's respective parking services website. The price to park at the University of Delaware was also included to show UD Parking Services how its prices compared to the prices of James Madison University and Towson University.

Our first actions involved a full scan of each respective school's parking website. Through this research, we looked for each school's least restrictive parking permit. It was this "least restrictive" permit that was used to make a comparison on cost between schools. These permits were chosen because we wanted prices to reflect a parking permit that allowed a significant amount of parking on each campus. This permit at the University of Delaware is the "Gold" permit.

When mentioning long-term parking, year-long rates are used in the analysis whenever they are applicable.

Determination of Accessibility
Accessibility was determined based on further online research. More accessible lots are those that included fewer overall restrictions, made more spaces available, and did so for significant periods of time. Less accessible lots have more restrictions, less available hours of parking, and fewer spaces. Each of these factors that compose the accessibility trait are weighted equally. Once we had each school's respective policies accounted for, we analyzed these policies for their restrictive nature, then compared to the other schools.

Determination of Commuter Satisfaction
A few different sources to determine commuter satisfaction were used. First, online information was used to see how long existing parking policies had been in effect. Schools who have changed their parking policy recently or are in the middle or parking policy changes are assumed to have a lower degree of commuter satisfaction; thus the frequent changes in parking policy. Those schools whose parking policy has not been under frequent change are assumed to generate greater commuter satisfaction.

Another one of our first actions was drafting a survey. In addition to online research, this survey was used to gain several students' insights about parking policy. Several close-ended questions were used to judge commuter satisfaction. Once results were collected, they were tabulated, analyzed, and were then used to help create our recommendations for Parking Services.

=ANALYSIS=

**Costs** Each school's least restrictive permit was used, to reflect prices that cover legal parking of as much of each campus as possible. At the University of Delaware, this was the "Gold" permit. The Gold permit allowed use to over 10 lots on campus, which each of the Red and Blue permits only granted access to three lots over a more restrictive time period. Comparable, full-campus permits were selected from Towson and James Madison in order to ensure consistency and comparability.

James Madison University had the lowest annual cost for the comparable student parking permit. It's price was $212 per year for a full-time student permit. Towson University had the second lowest, with its year-round student parking permit priced at $303. The University of Delaware had the parking permit that was priciest of the three schools in question. Its Gold-Annual Student parking permit, which accounts for most of the student lots at UD, was priced at $340 per year.

Accessibility
The University of Delaware currently has a program in place that is aimed at changing the way the campus is traveled. According to an article by UDaily, this program is designed to decrease the amount of central campus parking spots available, mainly in order to deter commuters from parking more than once, and rather to walk or use the shuttle (UDaily). Although the motive seems respectable, reducing surface parking spots on the center of campus is not the answer. With Delaware's revamped parking structure, students with valid permits will be able to park in any of these "central" lots after 5 o'clock p.m, long after most classes are completed. However, a valid permit in this case (Gold) is one that requires that the student have 110 or more credits. This is a highly restrictive new policy; in essence, only second semester seniors are qualified to hold such permits. The Red permit restricts students to more "residential" lots, typically too far away for daily use, at the field house and on north campus. It is fair to say that the University of Delaware is increasing restrictions rather than reducing them. A great deal of students walk to class everyday, and there isn't an out-of-control desire for students to park on campus. Alleviating some of these restrictions and taking the primary focus off of students might be good for UD parking policy.

Immediately after reviewing Towson's parking policy, we see a key difference in accessibility. All students with 60 or more credits are qualified for parking permits. This means that most restrictions are lifted beginning a student's junior year. Students with 29 or less credits qualify for waiting-list and overflow lot permits which limit them to certain lots and after 3 p.m. Freshman are required to park off campus at Towson's Chesapeake or Tolbert garages, where a shuttle route is in service. Also, on weekends, Towson opens up its Union garage for free parking, which encourage guests and visitors, as well as accommodate to them. Despite a slightly more urban setting, and thus a more limited number of available spots, Towson University's policy gives more accessibility to its students, sooner in their academic career.

James Madison offers a different approach to parking on campus. Similar to UD, students are encouraged to park off campus and walk, carpool, or utilize the Harrisonburg shuttle. James Madison students are able to ride the city shuttle free of charge, despite the fact that the shuttle is run by the city and not the school (unlike UD). James Madison utilizes the lots surrounding their sporting complex for the large quantities of long-term parking. Freshman at James Madison University are not allowed to have a car on campus. Lastly, students' parking permit qualifications and prices vary depending on the number of credits a student has. This is based on a graduated scale; more credits earn a student more lots and less restrictions.

Commuter Satisfaction
Commuter satisfaction at the University of Delaware is one of the variables we hope to affect through a change in parking policy and permit price. Our survey polled 48 students at the University of Delaware who volunteered to share their thoughts on parking policy. It was administered through two mediums, the social networking site Facebook and a URL that brought survey participants directly to the survey website, so volunteers participated exclusively online.

We utilized our survey to gain insights from a sample of students which we hope reflects the opinions and attitude of the student body. Our survey population can be broken down into 50% falling under Junior status and 50% under Senior status. All survey participants commute or use long-term parking. Our survey yielded the following notable findings:


 * 25% of our survey population has received at least (1) UD Parking Ticket in 2011.
 * 50% of our population has received at least (1) UD Parking Ticket during their entire tenure at The University of Delaware and 36% have received at least (2) tickets during their tenure.
 * 88% of our survey population did not contest their UD Parking Ticket.
 * 63% of our survey population is discouraged from bringing their vehicle to the University of Delaware for long-term parking.
 * 94% of our survey population agrees that UD parking is expensive and that at least $300 is what they consider expensive.
 * 93% of our survey population agrees that free parking on the weekend would create more positive feelings about UD parking.
 * 89% of survey participants rated UD's parking lot occupancy at any given time a 7 out of 10, with 10 as reaching maximum occupancy.
 * 75% of survey participants believe that UD could provide more parking lots and spaces to students.

Consider the large proportion of students who have received one or more tickets during their entire tenure at the University of Delaware. These tickets arise from parking in restricted lots, lots some would argue should not be as heavily restricted. Also, consider how 63% of our volunteers said that they were discouraged from bringing their vehicle to Delaware for long-term parking. This relatively high percentage might attribute their reluctance to the high permit prices, or the restrictive policies. Perhaps with price flexibility, the University of Delaware can increase parking revenue by lowering the prices. We also realized from our survey the student body's strong feeling toward free weekend parking. This policy is similar to that at Towson University, and encourages visitors and guests to visit the University. Lastly, it is clear from the survey that an overwhelming amount of students believe that UD can provide more lots and spaces to students. These may come in the form of alleviating restrictions on existing lots, or constructing new lots in areas such as the recently acquired Chrysler plant.

=CONCLUSIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS=

Ultimately, The Blue Hen Consulting Group set out to compile this report in order to analyze commuter satisfaction as it relates to costs and accessibility associated with parking lots and policies at the University of Delaware. Our second intent was to provide the information gathered in this report to aid the University in modifying existing parking infrastructure and policies. Focal areas of research included those of parking costs to commuters, perceived accessibility, and overall commuter satisfaction.

The University of Delaware ranks among the highest in annual parking fees/permits in their region, and commuters have an indirect understanding of this through word of mouth. It is clear that this finding is a contributor to lowered levels of commuter satisfaction. From a commuter’s point of view, they have trouble justifying regionally high parking fees and costs. Our recommendation is one of transparency. Making financial information more readily available and accessible to the affected audience will provide them information that they need to justify the University’s above average parking fees and costs for consumers. Providing this audience with the aforementioned information, in an easily digestible manner, will help to illustrate the complexity of budgeting and costs associated with the University; solving the problem is not as easy as changing the price at will.

At The University of Delaware, 75% of survey participants believe that UD could provide more parking lots and spaces to students. Commuter sentiment is clear, but how does the University measure up against other institutions in their region? Considering the vastly different layouts and geographical differences it is not an easy comparison. There are key themes that are recurrent in several institutions in the region that the University could utilize to alleviate commuter dissatisfaction with accessibility. One theme is centered on policy, as opposed to parking infrastructure. The University has one of the region’s most strict policies on undergraduate parking, with preferred access only attainable to faculty or second-semester seniors. Our suggestion is to remove restrictions on some faculty-only parking lots and to open up access of senior level parking lots to commuters at lower levels in their undergraduate experience (around 50-80 credits rather than nearly 110 credits). While the implications of a policy would be far reaching, it is our opinion that this action would benefit the effectiveness of UD parking lots and commuter experience without causing too much congestion.

At the end of the day, the goal is to make parking lots more effective, which will increase commuter satisfaction. As measured through our administered survey, commuter satisfaction is a mixed bag. The University’s policy on parking violations appears to be fair amongst students. While 50% of the subject population received a ticket at one point in their academic tenure at the University of Delaware, only 12% contested their violation. Our recommendation is to keep in place existing parking policies as they pertain to handling ticketing and violations. Another recommendation, based on our administered survey, is to plan the construction of more parking spaces for commuters. Looking forward, as the University becomes a more popular option for commuter students, the university will need to invest in the infrastructure to support this growth, or else face the possibility of lost potential undergraduates.

Based upon our research and findings, it is our professional opinion that The University of Delaware take the outlined action steps to give way to more effective parking infrastructure and governing policies.

=WORKS CITED= "Changes in Parking Reflect Long-range Campus Development Plans." // University of Delaware //. Web. 15 May 2011. .

"Parking - Transportation Services - University of Delaware." // Welcome to the University of Delaware //. Web. 15 May 2011. 

=APPENDIX=

Below are questions that were used in our survey in exact order and form
Web Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X3GWT9C 1. How many parking tickets have you received this year at UD? 2. How many parking tickets have you received your entire tenure at UD? 3. What is your current year classification? (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior) 4. Have you ever contested a ticket with parking services? 5. Has the annual price of parking at UD discouraged you from bringing your car to campus? 6. Do you consider UD parking to be inexpensive, expensive, or appropriate? 7. Which one of the below prices do you consider expensive for a parking lot spot for a semester? A.100 B.200 C.300 D.500 E.None of these 8. Several other large universities near and similar to UD have policies that permit free parking in University lots on weekends. Would this policy create more positive feelings about university parking policy? 9. Consider the nearest campus lot to you. On a scale of 0-10, 10 being completely full all the time and 0 being empty all the time, how would you classify your lot? 10. Do you feel that the number of parking lots and spaces are adequate on campus?