Dear Duquesne University faculty and staff colleagues,

Over the past several months, I've had the privilege of hearing from so many of you about your hopes, ideas, and concerns for Duquesne University's future. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who participated in my listening tour. Your feedback has been invaluable, and our leadership team is already working to translate what we heard into meaningful action. Throughout my first year as president, I’ll continue sharing updates on how your input is shaping our priorities and decisions.

Parking emerged consistently during our conversations as an issue. I understand how important reliable and convenient parking is to your daily experience as faculty and staff. Whether you’re teaching, conducting research, supporting students, or providing essential operational services, access to parking affects your ability to do your work well. Striving to improve the parking experience for employees is a priority for me.

Addressing this challenge will require both short-term actions and longer-term investments. Some solutions will involve infrastructure improvements and partnerships that will take time to develop. At the beginning of the fall semester, I’ll share a comprehensive, multi-phase parking strategy that we’re working on with the City of Pittsburgh and other partners designed to significantly expand access to nearby parking options for students, faculty, and staff.

At the same time, we must address several near-term challenges. The most significant is the construction of the new health sciences building, a project that will ultimately strengthen our campus but will temporarily reduce available parking and, on some days, affect access to Magee Street.

In response to both these challenges and the feedback shared during the listening tour, I asked our team to conduct a comprehensive review of parking utilization data. That analysis identified several opportunities to improve the use of existing parking resources. As a result, beginning in fall 2026, the University will implement the following measures as the first phase of our parking improvement efforts.

Reinforce the distinction between residential and commuter parking

Our analysis found that twenty percent of commuter students were parking overnight in the Forbes and Locust garages, contributing to congestion. University policy has historically prohibited overnight parking for commuter students, and the new parking technology we invested in last year now enables us to enforce this policy more effectively. Students living on campus who purchase residential permits will continue to have overnight parking access. Commuter permits will not allow vehicles to remain in the Forbes and Locus garages or in surface parking lots between 2 and 5 a.m. This policy will be enforced.

Encourage more efficient use of garage space

Our analysis also found that some residential students use their vehicles infrequently while occupying highly desirable parking locations. We will encourage these students to utilize parking spaces in designated areas of the Forbes and Locust garages that are better suited for longer-term parking, helping preserve more convenient spaces for those with more frequent in-and-out vehicle use. This voluntary approach will help preserve more convenient parking options for employees and other daily users of the garages. We’ll monitor use throughout the fall semester and consider additional permit modifications if needed.

Better align permit availability with actual parking capacity

The University provides a parking permit to any staff member, faculty member, or student who wants to purchase one, knowing that people have various reasons to use a personal vehicle to come to campus. We’ve also invested in partnerships—like the Chatham garage—to increase our capacity so that anyone who wants to park at Duquesne has a space.

Our review of the use data from last year showed that the University issued a number of full-access permits (which give a person the option to park in the Forbes or Locust garages, surface lots, street spaces on campus, or the Chatham garage) that put more pressure on the Forbes and Locust garages than those facilities could comfortably accommodate. Beginning this fall, we’ll establish a cap on full-access commuter permits. Commuters will still have the option to purchase a permit with Chatham access and be placed on a waitlist for a full access permit. This change is intended to reduce overcrowding and increase the likelihood that permit holders can find parking in those garages when they arrive on campus. Where the garages are full, which may happen for a number of reasons, parking will remain available in Chatham garage.

Expand waitlist and alternative parking options

Once commuter permit capacity is reached, students will be offered permits for the Chatham garage, which does not allow overnight parking, and they will have the opportunity to join a waitlist for Forbes or Locust permits should space become available.

These actions represent an important first step toward improving the parking experience at Duquesne. They are intended to encourage fair and effective use of our parking garages now while we pursue longer-term solutions that will expand overall parking capacity.

Over the coming months, we’ll continue to gather feedback, monitor parking use patterns, and evaluate additional opportunities for improvement. We’ll share information about these changes with students before the start of the fall semester, and University offices that regularly assist students with parking questions will receive guidance and resources to support those conversations.

I remain grateful for your candid feedback and partnership as we work together to improve the campus experience. I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts through the survey available on the President's website.

Thank you for all that you do for Duquesne University.

Sincerely,

David J. Dausey, Ph.D., Ed.D.
President