Month: July 2021

Dear UW-Green Bay Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Today, the Centers for Disease Control announced new guidance regarding the pandemic primarily on the issue of face coverings. Since the pandemic began, we have followed CDC guidelines as the primary source of our decision making to keep our campuses safe. We have also been intentionally slow to react with university procedures until we have had time to fully assess local conditions. The new CDC guidelines show the counties where we have campuses to be at moderate risk for transmission. So far, for our campuses the CDC is not recommending any change to our current guidelines and we will proceed as per my email on May 14, 2021. We will continue to monitor daily for any changes to the status of guidance for the counties where our campuses reside.

I urge you to get vaccinated unless you have religious, moral, or health reasons for not doing so. We know the fastest way to prevent the spread of the virus is to block its ability to move between people. The best way forward for our campuses and the region is to get ourselves to a low risk of transmission and keep it there. Like everything else we have persevered through to this point, we will also navigate our way through the Delta variant. Please stay safe, take care of each other, and we will send further guidance as the picture for our region becomes more clear.

Best,

Michael Alexander
Chancellor

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

Despite our best attempts to open the Shorewood Golf Course this summer, we will be unable to do so.  As many of you know, Shorewood has been a significant drain on our resources for many years.  Interest has been waning for many years and it is not critical to our primary mission of student success. Fortunately, there are many other excellent public options in Green Bay to play golf.  In the coming months, we will transition the golf course into a student recreation and engagement center to expand our URec offerings, provide meeting spaces for students, relocate and improve our popular community disc golf course, and establish an official point of entry (with parking) to the beautiful Cofrin Arboretum.

I understand that this will be a disappointment to those in the community who have used the Shorewood Golf Course for many years.  As a state institution, we must be good stewards of our funds, and this decision allows us to better support our current and future students.  Our region desperately needs us to grow and provide more graduates to support the growth of the economy in our region.  While what to do with the Shorewood Golf Course has been wrestled with for many years, I believe now is the right time to make this change and continue to build the momentum we have as a university truly on the rise.

Best,

Michael Alexander
Chancellor

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We never enjoy sending email with that kind of subject line, but are doing so to prepare you for a parking fee increase that will go into effect in Fall 2021. The current parking fee at UW-Green Bay has been substantially lower than many of the other University of Wisconsin campuses for several years. This rate increase was originally scheduled for 2020 but deferred due to Covid. Unfortunately, we cannot delay the increase any longer. In addition to these fee adjustments, we are taking steps to recover costs from external parties, including assessing a fee for ticket sales to public events at the Kress Events Center and Weidner Center.

This Fall, parking fees will be:

Permit	Cost
Annual	$200
Semester	$100

To put this in context, below you will find information regarding UW-Green Bay’s approach to parking fees.

Why UW-Green Bay Charges Parking Fees

Under Wisconsin law §36.11, Universities are directed to charge parking fees to cover the cost of construction and maintenance of parking facilities. Parking permit fees fund new lot constructions, the resurfacing and/or filling of cracks in existing lots, painting lines, snow removal, signage, and general upkeep such as debris removal. The fees cover services similar to those covered by municipal taxes, and without them our campus infrastructure would become unusable and unsafe.

Maintaining our Campus for the Future

Parking Operations and Facilities Management work closely together to strategically plan for both the immediate and long-term campus infrastructure needs. We have identified areas of concern and construction payment schedules are such that a significant cash balance is needed in the previous fiscal year in order to initiate a project for the following year. The fee increase reflects our preparations for the following anticipated project costs, which must be completed over the next several years to maintain access to campus.

If the fund balance is not present or sufficient enough to complete work, necessary repair projects are suspended. Deferring projects means they become more costly as the age and condition of the needed work worsens. It is important that we take care our campus for today and into the future.

Permit Renewal

These increases will occur for Fall 2021 when semester permits go on sale.  Those employees eligible for yearly permits through payroll deduction will also be affected by these increases upon their Fall 2021.

Pay By App Option

University Parking has teamed up with ParkMobile, LLC to provide paid parking for our more frequent visitors who have exhausted their 5 free days of visits, but don’t feel the longer Semester or Yearly parking permit is necessary. This partnership provides both a significant increase in ease of obtaining parking rights and also cost savings to these more frequent visitors. ParkMobile is a nationwide provider of parking services, so the App you download will work at thousands of other locations nationwide; not just UW-Green Bay. More information on pay-by-app.

Questions/Comments

University Parking can provide more information and answer any questions about this or other parking services. They can be directed to Parking@uwgb.edu.

Best,

Michael Alexander
Chancellor

Sheryl Van Gruensven
CBO/ Senior Vice Chancellor for Institutional Strategy