University of Maryland students who receive a parking citation from DOTS this semester can now appeal via video chat to a representative.
The video reviews, which were piloted in the fall, launched officially last week and will allow students to talk face-to-face with officials to explain the circumstances that led to the citation, Department of Transportation Services Director David Allen said.
“Over my time here, students have often said, ‘Can I speak to someone? Can I talk to someone? I could say my message more clearly if I could talk to someone,'” Allen said. “This seemed like the next best thing — for people to be able to have time with the person that’s making the decision, and there could be follow-up questions based on what they said.”
Now, when a student logs in to the DOTS website, they are presented with an option to submit a written review or to schedule an appointment for a video review. If the video review option is selected, the website will open a page that will offer various dates and times when DOTS staff will be available.
For now, 12 hours of video appointment time are available each week on a first-come, first-serve basis, said Valerie Goubeau, DOTS assistant director, though the video review cannot take place more than 30 days after the citation was issued.
After a student schedules a date, he will have the opportunity to submit any attachments. DOTS will then connect with the student through Skype on the scheduled date and time.
Originally, the program was piloted with Google Hangouts, but DOTS has since switched to Skype, as it better fits the needs of both students and staff, Goubeau said. The video review wasn’t available at the beginning of this semester because DOTS was working on revamping the process.
“Both my students and the appellants have been, maybe, not pleased with the outcome, but pleased with the opportunity to be part of that process,” she said.
Last semester, an estimated 15 students used the optional video review service, but Goubeau said she expects to schedule about 20 appointments per week this semester, given the “more complete staff” and more options for scheduled times.
Junior journalism major Ana Blickenstaff received a parking citation last year and went through the normal online appeal process, but her appeal was denied.
“I think having a process where you could actually review it with someone would be so helpful because I didn’t even know,” Blickenstaff said.
Allen and Goubeau said the video appeals process will be advertised more as the system is adjusted throughout the semester.
“When we get the Skype up and running … and make sure all of the technical bugs are worked out, then we’ll make it more apparent and advertise it and make it part of our normal appeals process,” Allen said.
