The University of Oklahoma parking department keeps students informed on parking spots, lot closings, bad weather and recommendations to aid morning commute.The OU Parking Services tweet available parking spots Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. The twitter account aims to help students find parking during the busiest hours of the day.
Two undergraduate interns at the parking department make their daily morning routine inside the OU faculty vehicle around the Asp and Elm parking garages before making their way to the student parking lots. With a smartphone in hand, they send out notifications to nearly 3,000 twitter followers of the available parking spots. However, parking is first-come, first-serve and spots fill up quick.
“The parking spots available are tweeted, but if people retweet it 15 minutes later it becomes invalid,” Vicky Holland said. “Parking fills up fast.”
Vicky Holland is in her fourth year as the public relations and market specialist for the OU Parking Services. She is the writer, designer, event planner and primary interviewer for the company.
Holland encourages students to go to the Lloyd Noble Center if they cannot find a parking space on campus. The multipurpose arena does not require a permit and students will be able to ride a shuttle to a destination stop to class. The shuttle was implemented in 1980 to alleviate the parking issue.
“The last tweet of the day says ‘Hey, if you can't find parking, go to Lloyd Noble, park there and ride the shuttle to class,’” Holland said.
Holland recommends to students who attend classes in the late morning or in the afternoon or those who cannot consistently find a parking spot to return their permit in exchange for a refund. The value of the permit, however, decreases each week after purchase.
The Norman campus is looking to add two new parking garages, including one located south of Lindsey Street.
The parking services department places an emphasis on making the unit known across campus. The OU Parking Services have passed out flyers at Wagner, handed out free key chains, set up at the graduate, transfer and resource fairs, provided information at Camp Crimson and advocated their program to the university’s social networks.
Initially suggested by the Student Government Association, OU Parking Services is currently in its 3rd year of parking assistance. While the parking department does not extend their updates to other social media networks, Holland is pleased with the traction they have developed on Twitter.
“The responses have been overwhelming,” Holland said. “I feel the services are greatly appreciated.”
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