That’s great about the shuttle schedule! I haven’t had to book one in a while, so it’s good to know that early shuttles are available. Again, I was only working off of information from recent posts.
Commenting on some comments:
- Parking at BHM is $10-12 per day unless one parks in hourly parking. That is very good for on-airport parking at an airport which has more than 5 flights per day. There has been talk of bringing commercial service to Tuscaloosa, but higher prices might make it much cheaper to still fly out of BHM. Look into prices from Columbus/Starkville, MS. It's often twice the price of flying into BHM.
- UA is still working out the kinks with the new Fresh Foods location. Popularity also brings more customers. Back when it served lunch, Bryant had a hard time fitting everyone into the dining room and outside courtyard, which is part of the reason why it's no longer open for lunch.
- This is a fairly common complaint. There is a longstanding debate in academia about the need to make certain courses exceptionally difficult.
- Many people were surprised to see that Ridgecrest South would sit atop a parking garage, but it was necessary for it's location on a ridge (most of the parking garage is not underground). Presidential, aka North Bluff, is located on a different park of campus where the parking garage would essentially have to be built underground, which is not cheap. With the purchase of the Bryce property, UA had enough land to build an above-ground parking garage and more surface lots at a lower cost than digging into the ground to build an underground parking garage.
As for what I didn’t/don’t like about UA and Tuscaloosa:
- Some employees have the view that almost everyone is from the South and schedule events based on that assumption. It's hard to fly over 2000 miles home for a 3-4 day weekend, especially when the airport shuttles were timed such that one had to take redeye or very early morning flights to get back in time for the last shuttle. The last airport shuttle used to pick up at BHM around 7pm, which would mean a West Coast departure before 7am and no flight delays. This has changed for the better as UA has grown.
- Very little public transportation and few sidewalks when off campus. While it's easy to get around campus, one really has to plan how to get to Target, Wal-Mart, the mall, etc., without a car.
- Increasing costs. Like many universities, tuition and on campus housing costs have increased rapidly over the years. IIRC, on campus housing costs were over $3,000 per year higher my senior year than my freshman year. I didn't mind paying a premium for the convenience of living on-campus as I saved money other ways, but that premium rose significantly.
I visited Tuscaloosa in December and spent a day on campus to visit friends and to see how things changed during the last two years. I’ve been considering creating a thread detailing my observations.
With the BHM parking, it’s fine for a week or so but for nearly a month over winter break it adds up. Close to $300 in parking isn’t trivial.
Parking at Bhm for that long is not needed. … take the round trip shuttle from Ttown for much less.
The parking rate for that long at Bhm airport, I think, is about $9 a day. That is probably typical for on-site airport parking.
I think many of us would be interested in reading this if you would be willing to post it.
Students can park at UA’s transportation hub parking garage for long breaks FOR FREE.
We did that last winter break when D flew home. She simply parked her car then went to the office there at the hub and told them her car make/model and she would be parked there for the break. I arranged her private ride to pick her up at the hub when she took her car there w/ her luggage. It was SUPER EASY! The driver took her right back to the hub when she flew back. He had her incoming flight info and kept up with any delays in order to pick her up on time and no waiting.
You can also park in the Ferg parking deck for some breaks. For a whooping $5. We did this when D was finished with Early College and she rode back with us, then we flew her back to Bham 5 days later to start rush.
I believe UA does provide plenty of very cost effective options for long term parking for students. Those that have a parking pass for Ridgecrest parking garage can park their vehicles there over long breaks.
Another issue is that if you want to take the schools shuttle from Birmingham Airport to UA, you have to make the reservation 2 weeks before the scheduled date. For instance if a student doesn’t know before Dec 22 when he/she will be arriving to Birmingham Airport, one cannot make an online reservation to take the shuttle on Jan 4th or Jan 5th.
Out of State Student’s plans change during the holidays, so all reservations should be available for the school’s shuttle at least the day before arrival just like it is available for the Jan 6th shuttles. I see no reason UA transportations would have this weird policy given that ALL shuttle ticket purchases are nonrefundable.
The shuttle should run at least every 2 hours vs the current every 3 hours. Three hours is too long to wait for the next shuttle if a student arrives just past the shuttle departure time from Birmingham Airport.
^^^i have known the shuttles to be flexible, there have been instances of late plane arrivals and of the shuttle waiting, or of students arriving early and being able to get on an erarlier shuttle if seats were available. There is a contact number that is very helpful.
I remember particularly during one ice storm that UA and the shuttles did a lot to accomadate the students and were very responsive to that situation.
This is not to say that the UA shuttle schedule and its flexibility should not be tweaked, I am just providing additional info.
The short break at Thanksgiving is the biggest thing I don’t like. With so many OOS students who have to travel, only having Thursday and Friday off is very inconvenient. As it turned out, instructors cancelled most of D’s classes for that week but airfare was already booked and was expensive to change so she sat around campus unnecessarily for 3 days.
I agree! Once a new president is announced, that change should be pursued…Dr. Bonner likes having Fall Break…which she thinks causes the short Tgiving week.
Actually, parents should start suggesting that to the current provost.
I love that my son had a Fall Break in October. It was hard not seeing him from early Aug to late October. Would have been unbearable to go from early Aug to late Nov! (9.5 hr drive each way…not something you can do on a regular weekend) I think Fall Break should be five days (Wed-Sun), instead of four, to make it better for those who are community long distances…such as flying to CA, etc.
^^
I agree. I think the school should accommodate both…have a longer fall break and a full week off at Thanksgiving…even if it means starting the semester on Monday, rather than Wed.
Ot but don’t want to start a new thread - when is spring break at UA this year?
Kid has not yet visited and UA may be a serious contender. If her HS break is diff from UAs break it would be a good time to go.
Thanks @mom2collegekids ! Thanks for the link too!
Her break is March 30-April 6, so it works out. Yay!
To comment about the latest in food, Lakeside has changed its menu to more like Fresh Foods, but DD doesn’t like veggies and although she finds what she likes at Fresh Foods (it is very popular and she says there are always lines), she did not give a favorable report on Lakeside changes. However will they go further to get to another dining hall, no. You are also talking about freshman who have the unlimited meal plan and do get tired of eating at a cafeteria. Studying the menu, where one is going to be eating, pick and choose. I know my DD doesn’t go to the trouble.
So some student complaints are that - they go for convenience and maybe give up a more palatable dining option. I’m not impressed with some of my DD’s dining choices (often pizza and fries), but with her off campus apt next year, she will have limited meal plan participation and then will like it because it saves her from packing a lunch.
I know the late night Lakeside food time is liked.
I agree with the poster explaining about the cost of a parking garage and the reason for Ridgecrest South having the parking garage. Crimson Ride can often get you to your car if you had to park a little bit of distance, or the walk/bike ride is not crazy far.
UA coordinates their school breaks with Tuscaloosa public schools due to faculty/staff wanting breaks when their kids are out of school. I know the Spring break for 2015-2016 is tentative until Tuscaloosa area schools approve their calendar. I think that plays heavily on the breaks for UA - fall and Thanksgiving. It never hurts to try to have these breaks be longer if it is widely desired.
Rather than parking a car at the B’ham or Atlanta airport for the break between semesters - I don’t know if there is off site long term parking in Atlanta or B’ham that is cheaper than $9/day and secure for the vehicle. I like the suggestion with using the UA transportation hub parking garage. It is a challenge to get the reasonable priced airline flights and the relevant shuttle coordinated in a timely manner, but planning is key.
Update from DD - Lakeside’s food is improving. Evidently feedback has been received and making more adjustments.
It IS getting better
I completely agree with more airport shuttles. They need to start airport shuttle times for Winter break to at least Wed, the week of finals, as I know my roommate only had two and one was online and she went home Monday night. If they had more times that would be helpful as well because my return flight for Thanksgiving was just ten minutes past the previous bus and I had to wait three hours for the next shuttle.
As for Pres. dorms I would guess because slumping is a risk, as it is built on a hill. Or they began building Pres and only after thought it would have been a good idea to have an underground garage.
My complaint is recitations being scheduled on Tuesdays. If every class is gonna have a recitation on Tuesday, why schedule classes that evening? There have been some really neat honors classes I wanted to take, but they were always on Tues and I always had a recitation or three on Tues.
Another complaint: Lakeside being disgusting. Not everything has to bee cooked with grease. Even the apples that are siting out are covered in grease, so are the tables and the booths. It really is disgusting. Food doesn’t even taste too good. If they are getting so many complaints, why aren’t they doing something about it? Half the things on Yik-Yak are about “That Lakeside food, man” If they could just make the food with less grease I am sure it would taste much better.
Along with that, I was wondering why there isn’t a 24 hour dining hall. If freshman have to have an unlimited meal plan and live on campus, they are going to get the munchies late at night. Also, I like getting up early even on weekends and it bothers me that Starbucks never opens earlier than 9 and on weekends it doesn’t open til 12. Also, everything in the Ferg closes early on Fridays. What if I want to get a soft pretzel at 4? But Aunt Annies closes at 330. Lakeside doesn’t even open until ten on any given day. If you want breakfast earlier, you have to walk to Burke which opens at 8. And buses don’t even run that early on weekends.
Also, they need a Y near campus. Or at least they need to put a four lane, 25 yd pool in Pres Rec so I can swim laps. Also, the hours need to be good. The Aquatic Center has horrible hours.
And the Student Health Center. Allergy shots need to be able to be administered every day. It is really hard to get on a bus for 30 min, wait for 30 min, get a shot, wait another 30 min, then get on a bus for an hour, just to get an allergy shot and to fit that within a crazy schedule, no way.
But mostly, I just want a lap lane next to Ridgecrest and a 24 hour dining hall that doesnt serve only fried chicken and greasy waffles at midnight.
You could get a bicycle and bike to Burke. Or to some place that uses Dining Dollars