So with the introduction of VSU, us cash-poor uni students thought we'd be better off. I mean, after all, how many of us actually any of their services enough to be worth the cost? (Yes, if you compare it with government taxes, its a similar situation, but anyway...) Don't take this the wrong way, the MSA guys do a great job at what they do, and although I didn't use their services much last year, I know plenty that did.
To compensate for the loss in funding, uni's providing MSA with some money. MSA's probably upping the prices a bit too (hopefully not that much), and they probably get something from the membership fees from the new
Monash Community card (their emphasis), which costs 149 bucks (not sure how long membership lasts for). From a student point of view, its still cheaper than student union fees, which were about 400 bucks per semester if I remember correctly. And the card has a variety of rewards available too, including car rental, travel and accommodation, restaurants, shops, and fuel discounts. Full list
here - PDF file.
Anyway, that's not what I'm annoyed about. Taking advantage of VSU, uni's decided to up the student parking permit price from 83 bucks (for the year) last year, to 280 bucks this year.
That's a 3 and a bit fold increase! I know we always had it cheap (Deakin apparently charged 180 bucks last year) but the increase is huge, especially given its unplanned nature (I don't think most people read the MSA email warning us sent earlier in the year). The inelastic nature of parking permits means the problem will affect people even more (pub trans isn't an option for some people, and carpooling's difficult with the varying timetables). And to further rub it in, they're cross-promoting it with the community card, given holders "up to 84 bucks" discount on a parking permit. Not sure what the 'up to' bit means, but it just seems like a slimy scheme.
Now that the prices have been finalised, and the release dates have been set, let's see what Monash students do about this. (I'll bet they'll be stepping up the parking police too.) I'm even more annoyed as I only got a car at the end of last year
. The daily parking price is still to be seen...
For those who don't read their emails - here's a quick summary:
Staff and students are reminded that the sale of Red, Green and Blue
parking permits for 2007 will utilise an on-line application process. As
a
consequence permits will be released according to the following schedule:
* Blue permits for staff and students
Caulfield campus Wednesday 7th February, 2007
Clayton campus Friday 9th February, 2007
Berwick campus Monday 12th February, 2007
Peninsula campus Monday 12th February, 2007
PLEASE NOTE. A further reminder, with the actual link to the online
application system, will be forwarded to all eligible staff and students
at each of these campuses on the morning of the dates listed above and no
permits will be able to be purchased prior to these dates.
More details
here.