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Parking is so hard to find that students and staff (and others) are parking in the lot East of the stadium early so that they can get a parking stall, and then sleeping, studying or otherwise waiting for classes to start in their cars, with their engines running to either keep cool in the summer or warm in the winter. Could we maybe offer a warming station or invite them to go to the Library instead of emitting so much exhaust? At minimum, we should post do not idle signs throughout and explain why.
we need to continue to look to the future - make sure we have the infrastructure to provide support to the camps - there needs to be support. The U campus is very lacking compared to the many other campus in Utah. Make sure the support building are in place before more is built.
While I understand that transportation and parking is difficult and more parking seems like an easy solution, as a transit commuter & pedestrian, I find that much of campus is already covered in parking lots which is quite difficult to navigate. Adding more parking spaces will also only increase traffic flows, slowing down public transportation further and decreasing pedestrian safety. I would not want to see campus turn into half parking garages, especially near south campus. Parking garages are an even further impediment to walkability. As we introduce more and more students to on-campus living, we need to prioritize people and not just cars. Alternative transportation modes such as telecommute and expanded UTA service (such as express commuter routes) would also help tremendously. Employees who can take advantage of alternative transportation modes should be incentivized to do so, so that those who cannot feasibly do so have more parking options.
I think it would be a great thing for the school of arts, photography, to get involved with the school of medicine so that the photographers in the school of arts can be exposed to niche's within medical photography. Even if it's just being exposed to it via a powerpoint, it could seriously change the career directions that some people choose to take just by being exposed to it as an option when usually medical photography and how to get into it usually isn't covered in the school of the arts.
I would love to see more protection and support of diverse groups such as transgender students and Palestinians. I also would love to see only ethical food and coffee shops and avoidance of boycotted places on the premises. No Starbucks for example. We need DEI. I love the healthy food options on the premise including the vegan options. I would love a place to give feedback 24/7. I think it would be beneficial to have a cultural center to teach bicultural students about Utah cultural basics such as timeliness here, common Utah phrases, popular Utah foods, Utah cultural norms, etc. There needs to be quicker turnaround time for disability services. Would love to see some updates to the building of family and preventative medicine.
Creating a parking system that is sustainable and accessible. Driving around to find parking contributes heavily to emission pollution in the Salt Lake Valley. We should be the leaders in how to manage this very simple emission reduction. Technology that allows commuting students and faculty to see which lots are full, or provide a more advanced parking assignment system that reduces parking overflow and allows for folks to know where they can park BEFORE they arrive and have to drive around for an extra 10-15 minutes to find a spot. This would also require increasing the parking capacity for the growing institution AND offering incentives for students and faculty who do not drive to campus.
We need gender neutral restrooms in every building, every floor. We need to be more cognizant of spaces on campus in order to meet the needs of all of our students, faculty, staff and the general public.
Also, we need to convert more parking lots into multilevel parking structures to provide more space for parking. Parking passes for staff are unaffordable and need to be reduced.
Finally, there needs to be more road exits and entrances to central campus. The flow of traffic is overly congested and dangerous in bad weather conditions on Central, North, and South Campus Drives. In addition, the spill way lane off of Foothill Drive into Mario Capecchi is overly congested and very dangerous for pedestrians and vehicles. This need to change into a separate lane or road instead of a single lane of traffic.
With the passage of HB 257 this legislative cycle, the University of Utah needs to ensure that there are student accessible, gender neutral restrooms on every floor in every building.
We need to protect our students, staff, and faculty in many, many ways for many, many reasons. One way is to ensure gender neutral bathrooms on every floor in every building. Our buildings also need to have much clearer signage on all sides to help literally everybody navigate the campus easier. This is particularly important for emergency situations so first responders can arrive to the correct location much more quickly, especially for the smaller (and still important) buildings.
We need gender neutral restrooms on every floor of every building, especially since there are lots of people of different abilities. We need better parking for all types of people: students, staff, faculty, visitors, etc.
more gender neutral bathrooms would be great.
Parking is a mess. It's already really expensive and things keep being taken from the u permit to be pay to park.....
More places where I can turn off lights and have a relative anount of silence would be great. sometimes I can't go home for hours and just having a space to relax would be great
A multicultural center with spaces for cultural, community-based events. It could have different types of rooms, including visual arts, a media room, a kitchen (for events), craft rooms, and diverse study and recreational spaces.
Please institute universal design to the greatest extent possible. It is understandable that sometimes stairs are necessary, but then ramps need to be build secondary to provide access to people who rely on wheels. Unfortunately whenever stairs are present, they frequently get attention first when it comes to snow/ice clearing. When, instead, ramps can allow ALL travelers access. If there were ONLY ramps and sidewalks that are accessible to all, then there wouldn't be choices in what to clear first. Build all rooms and buildings to be flexible and accessible to those with various mobility or vision differences.
Additionally, bikes and scooters need designated, safe places to move that doesn't put pedestrians at risk, as well as providing spaces that are safe for bikes/scooters that are not driving in traffic with automobiles and busses. Europe has many successful examples of this. No new road should be built without a separated, parallel, barricaded area for bikes/scooters. Likewise, designated bike/scoot lanes through campus would be helpful. Distinguish by coloring the concrete/asphalt a specific color (usually green) to help visually represent the space, plus use dividers like flower beds/landscaping/artful barricades, to help separate modes of travel to keep safe.
Parking should be free for hospital staff below a threshold income who have difficulty with public transportation or easy walking & bicycle commuting. It is hard enough to retain and recruit staff. Good candidates will continue to accept jobs at other U health locations so they don't have to take a pay cut (due to parking costs on campus). Wages for those who work on campus could be subsidize if they have to pay for parking; otherwise, their wages are unfair. The hospital built a new garage, but the advertised cost of parking there for a full-time employee is likely to cost $200 per month. Positions that are already working more than one job (due to the lack of an affordable wage in a hospital position), can't afford to pay more for the same job elsewhere within our system.
Expansion of community life and recreational opportunities. The Student Life Center is one of the most popular buildings on campus, but it was built for a 20,000 student population and is currently insufficient for campus needs. Significant expansion is needed moving forward.
Build a mental health boarding center that is separate from the ED. Gold Pod often becomes bogged down with difficult patients resulting in high stress and overload for ED staff. South Jordan often ends up boarding there mental health patients sue to inability to find beds, South Jordan does not have the resources to board patients, let alone those with active mental health issues. When they board they have to pull one of their EMT/MA which leaves them short handed when busy with other medical emergencies.
Expand the UNI HOME program to include a high acuity center that is solely for ASD and HOME patients. UNI HOME patients often end up boarding for days to weeks depending on acuity and bed availability at HMHI.
As stated by many of my colleagues, parking (particularly for the health sciences) needs to be addressed. I recognize that there are projects opening/underway. My concern, as expressed by others, is that our health facilities continue to open beds, expand clinics, and even discuss further expansions. It is already challenging to find a parking spot if you arrive later than 6:45AM and do not have a reserved stall, we cannot continue to grow without first establishing places for these new employees staffing these expansions to park. It is challenging to hear the sentiment "employees should use public transit" that is not feasible for many employees. A lot of us cannot afford to live in places close enough to the campus in which public transit would be an option. That sentiment fails to consider the commitments we have outside of work such as picking up children, family and other obligations in which a vehicle may be needed after or before work. I agree that more terraces need to be built, not surface lots. Surface lots are wasteful of precious campus space. Additionally, as more folks purchase EVs, our terraces need to be equipped with numerous charging stations.
Parking is a theme you will and should see a lot in this feedback. Paying for parking is not financially viable for majority of U Health's finest.
I recommend exploring options that would allow for free/low cost parking structures that are for scheduled U Health employees only near upper campus- this would allow for predictability of numbers and need. There should be a robust and frequent shuttle system from those structures to the literal front doors of the campus sites. HMHI, Huntsman, Moran, Main, etc should have their own routes to and from the structures. They should be direct lines. While I understand that there is no financial incentive to improve ease of accessibility to the campus for employees, it would greatly improve job satisfaction and potentially encourage new minds/talent to the organization. I have several colleagues who actively avoid U Health employment due to the atrocious parking infrastructure. We can all agree that UTA's efficiency and access is not keeping up with need. I am certain that if there were badge accessible U Health employee parking locations around TRAX stations, that resource would be further utilized.
Disney has an impressive infrastructure for managing staff parking and transport in their cramped California parks. I have no doubts that the University of Utah could do the same.
Expand U of U Health north into Weber County. Buy Ogden Regional Medical Center and/or Ogden Clinic to gain the providers, staff, and inpatient space necessary. We should be all of the state's "go to" healthcare provider, not just Salt Lake valley. We've purchased a clinic group in the past and it's going well, let's do it again.
Also, for educational campus, expand remote campus options. Weber State and Utah State have great "off main campus" options, but I'm not familiar with any for the U.
Add faster options to get to the U and Uhealth from Front Runner. Could there be an express line from the downtown stop to Campus stops? the Red line takes a while to get from Central Station up to UHealth, and only comes 1x/hour during the middle of the day.
Parking should be done in a way that maximizes vertical spaces, not sprawling surface parking lots. Parking garages added to existing surface lots can double or triple spaces without paving over additional open space.
Find a better way of connecting the Fort Douglas National Historic Landmark to the rest of campus life, find ways to invest in it so faculty/staff/visitors know the significance of the Fort, how the U was built on lands part of the Fort, and how this history is alive today.
Create a safer network of sidewalks and bike paths around campus, especially near Hospitals and Clinics, Red Butte, and Research Park. The current situation is unsafe. Working with UTA on expanded access would also be great. More people would likely take advantage of the free UTA pass if it didn't take hours to commute.
Please prioritize an investment in a hospital(s) that is located in the Salt Lake/Utah county communities instead of prioritizing expansion within the existing University hospital location. It would be helpful if the University focused on being proactive rather than reactive when looking at growth and expansion, our system is already so far behind in providing access to care. Patients love the care we provide and want to seek inpatient hospital care close to their home, they do not like having to drive to the University hospital and deal with the parking.
Do not build any more parking structures in the nucleus of the campus. Any added parking options should be around the periphery of campus with bolstered park-and-ride/active transportation options to get people to their locations without getting stuck in gridlock. Fewer cars on campus. Additionally, we need to continue to invest in transit options that will keep employees from feeling the need to bring cars to campus. UTA services are greatly reduced at night when fewer students and faculty are on campus. However, health sciences employees are working 24/7 and cannot depend on public transit when it all but stops after 11P.
Parking access. I know this is a common theme, but specifically emergency personnel for the hospital. (I would love to see parking addressed for the hospital staff in general, and it would be a huge satisfier for the staff and decrease turnover, but baby steps first). Members of the Cath Lab, IR Lab, Surgical Services, Trauma teams, Endoscopy etc are the teams I am talking about. Other medical facilities in similar situations as the University of Utah like OHSU where parking is difficult, they reserved a select number of parking stall for each team in the patient parking structure. That way a patient who is brought up to the U for medical care due to having a heart attack, stroke, GI bleed or accident where they need emergency surgery, is not waiting on their care team arrive because there is no available parking. For example, many are having to park by the Helix building or the softball fields (Where I typically park) and then have to walk 15 min to get to the facility. 15 min is a long time when someone is having a stroke, massive GI bleed, stroke etc. Time is tissue, and the parking issue is and will continue to cause patient harm. I don't think we would want the cath lab team taking another 15 min when we or our loved one is having a heart attack. Many teaching medical facilities like OHSU, reserve parking spots for these teams for a prompt team arrival, and more efficient patient care. I strongly recommend the University of Utah adopt this, reserve 5-10 spots per team for emergencies. What I have seen is that the manager would be given a card stock signs to have the employee place int their window. When those individuals are on the response/call team, they can park in those stalls. There are only so many stalls reserved so essentially only the call team can park there and the teams regulates this by themselves. For example if a member of the cath lab parks in a cath lab designated stall on a non-call day, their manager and team will handle the issue. Parking enforcement would not have extra work placed on them. The teams will hold each other accountable. This would not be for everyone working those floors those days, only for the call teams, or response teams. That way the emergency response teams have access to close parking and we could provide more efficient patient care for community.
Parking structures should be added before continued growth. There are times when 45 minutes are spent looking for a parking spot. This is a significant dissatisfier for students, employees, and visitors. Additionally, covered walkways are needed. If the only parking spot available is a mile from one's destination, it is quite frustrating to walk in rain, snow, etc. Covered walkways could make a longer walk more manageable/acceptable. Finally, walkways should be ADA-accessible. This is not the case today, as moving east on campus sometimes results in having to utilize stairs or walk another significant distance to find a ramp/alternative path.
Would love to see an expansion of services at Farmington Health Center into a full hospital to better serve the community in Davis and Weber Counties. Feels unsafe living so far away from the main campus services.
More parking! We need more parking for faculty and employees. We cannot continue to grow our hospitals and clinics without having adequate parking to support those efforts. It's also a challenge to recruit new staff to work on campus when the parking is an obstacle.
I would like to see efforts to make the commute faster and easier. The plans to run TRAX to Research Park are a great start. Some other ideas, work with UTA to bring back the express buses from areas west and south of Salt Lake County. Run some express TRAX trains during the commute.
As campus is looking to grow there needs to be infrastructure built prior to bringing more students on campus. We are already behind on building things for students to do before the resident halls/apartments are built. There should be retail space, event spaces, etc.
In general, transportation on campus needs a serious overhaul. Biking is flat out dangerous, walking from A/U commuter lots frequently has disjointed walkways, and walking along traffic lanes inside parked cars rather than isolated from the flow of traffic is frequently encouraged by the current layout. The turn on to Mario Capecchi Drive needs to be two lanes instead of one. And timing of several stoplights on campus, based on time of day traffic flow, needs to be updated.
The health sciences schools and colleges are dispersed - having them connected by walkways and flows is better than the current state of things. Ideally I would want to put them all near each other to enhance interprofessional dialogue and communication. Maintaining a mix of places for specific groups (e.g. a lounge for students in a particular program) as well as a third space for anyone (e.g. a library) is ideal as campus is more connected.
1. High rise parking structures in a centrally located area for students and staff working on campus. We don't have a lot of spare land so building a high rise might work.
2. Restaurants and shops in a centrally located area for students, patients, visitors and staff on campus.
3. Housing for patients, visitors and staff on campus.
Make the turning lane coming from south foot hill to Mario a two turning lane instead of one. This will help traffic bog down to and from the hospital.
Inclusive seating should be the standard in classrooms. I am attending class in an older building for the first time, and I was surprised to find that instead of tables and chairs like in the newer buildings, there are still attached chair/desk combos with minimal space and no flexibility for size, pregnancy, or physical needs that warrant a different setup. People of all sizes and physical abilities should be able to sit comfortably in the classroom.
Also, we need to convert more parking lots into multilevel parking structures to provide more space for parking. Parking passes for staff are unaffordable and need to be reduced.
Finally, there needs to be more road exits and entrances to central campus. The flow of traffic is overly congested and dangerous in bad weather conditions on Central, North, and South Campus Drives. In addition, the spill way lane off of Foothill Drive into Mario Capecchi is overly congested and very dangerous for pedestrians and vehicles. This need to change into a separate lane or road instead of a single lane of traffic.
Parking is a mess. It's already really expensive and things keep being taken from the u permit to be pay to park.....
More places where I can turn off lights and have a relative anount of silence would be great. sometimes I can't go home for hours and just having a space to relax would be great
Additionally, bikes and scooters need designated, safe places to move that doesn't put pedestrians at risk, as well as providing spaces that are safe for bikes/scooters that are not driving in traffic with automobiles and busses. Europe has many successful examples of this. No new road should be built without a separated, parallel, barricaded area for bikes/scooters. Likewise, designated bike/scoot lanes through campus would be helpful. Distinguish by coloring the concrete/asphalt a specific color (usually green) to help visually represent the space, plus use dividers like flower beds/landscaping/artful barricades, to help separate modes of travel to keep safe.
Expand the UNI HOME program to include a high acuity center that is solely for ASD and HOME patients. UNI HOME patients often end up boarding for days to weeks depending on acuity and bed availability at HMHI.
I recommend exploring options that would allow for free/low cost parking structures that are for scheduled U Health employees only near upper campus- this would allow for predictability of numbers and need. There should be a robust and frequent shuttle system from those structures to the literal front doors of the campus sites. HMHI, Huntsman, Moran, Main, etc should have their own routes to and from the structures. They should be direct lines. While I understand that there is no financial incentive to improve ease of accessibility to the campus for employees, it would greatly improve job satisfaction and potentially encourage new minds/talent to the organization. I have several colleagues who actively avoid U Health employment due to the atrocious parking infrastructure. We can all agree that UTA's efficiency and access is not keeping up with need. I am certain that if there were badge accessible U Health employee parking locations around TRAX stations, that resource would be further utilized.
Disney has an impressive infrastructure for managing staff parking and transport in their cramped California parks. I have no doubts that the University of Utah could do the same.
Also, for educational campus, expand remote campus options. Weber State and Utah State have great "off main campus" options, but I'm not familiar with any for the U.
include a meditation studio with a few private rooms for people to have a private space to meditate throughout the day.
also include a cafe with a salad bar?
Find a better way of connecting the Fort Douglas National Historic Landmark to the rest of campus life, find ways to invest in it so faculty/staff/visitors know the significance of the Fort, how the U was built on lands part of the Fort, and how this history is alive today.
2. Restaurants and shops in a centrally located area for students, patients, visitors and staff on campus.
3. Housing for patients, visitors and staff on campus.