Dear Duquesne University Students,

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 am 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.

One topic that emerged consistently in conversations with students, faculty, and staff was parking. Whether you commute to campus, live in University housing, or travel home on weekends, parking plays an important role in your day-to-day experience. Improving parking is one of my highest priorities as president, and we are committed to creating solutions intended to make parking more accessible, predictable, and user-friendly.

As part of this effort, we have reviewed both student feedback and parking utilization data to better understand how our parking facilities are being used. That review identified several opportunities to improve availability and reduce congestion, particularly in the Forbes and Locust garages. Beginning in fall 2026, we will implement the following changes.

Overnight Parking

University garages provide an important resource for students who live on campus and need access to overnight parking. To ensure these spaces remain available for their intended purpose, and consistent with longstanding University policy, commuter permit holders may not leave vehicles in the Forbes and Locust garages or in surface parking lots between 2 and 5 a.m. Residential students will continue to be able to park in these garages overnight.

Commuter permit holder vehicles found in violation of this policy will be assessed a $50-per-day charge, which will be posted to the student account associated with the permit.

We also recognize that there may be circumstances in which commuter students need to leave a vehicle on campus while participating in a University-sponsored activity or event. In those situations, students may request an exception through an Overnight Exemption Request Form. Additional details about this process will be shared before the start of the fall semester.

Commuter Permit Availability

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.

Making Better Use of Parking Spaces

Our parking analysis also showed that some students who live on campus leave their vehicles parked in highly desirable locations for extended periods of time without regularly using them. At the same time, other students, faculty, and staff rely on daily access to these garages.

To make parking more accessible for everyone, we will ask residential students without mobility issues who use their vehicles infrequently to park in less frequently used areas of the garage. Doing so will help ensure that the more frequently used spaces remain available for those who use their vehicles more regularly.

We view this as a shared effort to make the best use of our limited parking resources. During the fall semester, we will monitor utilization patterns and gather feedback to determine whether additional steps are needed to support fair and efficient use of campus parking.

Why These Changes Are Being Made

Our analysis showed that about twenty percent of commuter permit holders have been using campus garages for extended vehicle storage, including overnight parking. We also found that some vehicles remain parked in highly sought-after locations for long periods, despite being used infrequently. Together, these patterns reduce the number of available parking spaces during peak demand and contribute to the parking challenges many students experience.

These changes are intended to better align parking usage with the original purpose of our parking facilities and to make existing spaces available to more students throughout the academic year.

While these updates represent an important first step, they are not the end of our work. We are continuing to explore additional opportunities to improve the parking experience, including longer-term strategies that will expand parking options and better serve the needs of our growing campus community. At the beginning of the fall semester, I will share more about a broader, multi-phase parking strategy we are developing with the City of Pittsburgh and other partners designed to assist with our campus parking needs.

Our goal is simple: to create a parking system that is fair, reliable, and accessible while making the best possible use of the University's limited parking resources.

Additional information will be shared before permit sales begin for the fall 2026 semester.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and partnership as we work together to improve the parking experience at Duquesne. I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts and feedback through the survey available on the President's web page. Your input will continue to shape how we move forward.

Sincerely,

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