Ball State University Parking Services wrongly ticketed some students during Fall Break, Nancy Wray, Parking Services office manager, said.
The policy for ticketing over Fall Break states that anyone can park in green (commuter) and blue (residential) lots but restricts parking in the other lots to accommodate faculty and staff still working over break.
Wray said she was unaware of ticketing taking place over Fall Break in the blue and green lots on campus. She also said she had no knowledge of legislation proposed by Student Government Association to revise the ticketing policy over Fall Break.
The legislation to change the holiday parking policy on campus failed to pass at SGA's weekly meeting because senators discovered a policy was already in place.
Wray said the legislation and ticketing problem were brought to her attention about a week ago when she spoke to SGA's Student Services Chairman John Boone.
"I went to go pay a parking ticket, and I had a question about the meters," Boone said. "I didn't want to bring it up right away, so I was trying to make small talk and I asked her about the legislation. She said, 'That's kind of funny because that's already in place.'"
As far as Wray knew, the ticketing during Fall Break was following the policy for holiday parking.
"It's in the Rules and Regulations," she said. "It gives the designated university holidays when ticketing is not enforced. We stipulated in the Rules and Regulations just what a university holiday was."
After hearing a policy was in place, President Pro-Tempore Asher Lisec had a meeting with Wray on Wednesday afternoon before the SGA meeting. That was the first time a sponsor of the legislation spoke with Wray.
"It's important to make sure legislation that has been researched and has faculty support is coming out of Senate," Lisec said.
Legislation co-author and On-Campus Caucus Chairman Ethan White said he spoke to several parking services employees while writing the legislation and was told repeatedly there was ticketing over Fall Break and students had to pay their fines.
"I had no idea that there were people like Nancy around," White said. "I took the legislation to Asher, and if she thought it was OK, I thought it was good to go."
On Thursday, White said a decision was made to refund all tickets wrongly given over Fall Break to students who parked in the green and blue lots. Wray said students with questions should contact her.
"I would welcome that with open arms," Wray said. "I try to tell students who I do have conversations with to please don't ever hesitate to call, and if I don't have a good answer I will try to find one for you or try to find who to direct you to go to."
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