UNC Charlotte has negotiated new contracts with Coca-Cola Consolidated, Pepsi Beverage Products and Canteen Vending to provide beverages and vended snacks to the campus community. The agreements are unique in that they provide the financial benefit of exclusive beverage rights while maintaining the product choice for customers.

Coke will be the official beverage of Charlotte 49er Athletics

Coca-Cola products will be served exclusively in all athletic practice and competition facilities. Coke’s beverage rights and vending exclusivity in all athletics venues is a sponsorship agreement, providing funds that will support the Charlotte 49ers NCAA athletic program. In addition to the financial provision, Athletics will also benefit from beverage and product support (e.g., beverages for hospitality functions, hydrating drinks for players and coaches during games and practices, coolers, cups, etc.). In exchange, Coke receives sole marketing rights to beverage brands that can be advertised (such as outfield signage and scoreboards), promoted, or product sampling at all athletic venues and is allowed to represent Coca-Cola Consolidated brands as “The Official Drink of Charlotte 49ers Athletics.”

Pepsi will be the exclusive beverage provider for all UNC Charlotte dining venues

All dining halls and retail food outlets will only serve products from the Pepsi beverage line. This arrangement benefits the University with additional dollars to enhance campus life.

Convenience stores and vending machines arrangement

Pepsi products will get 60% shelf space preference in the four campus Outtakes stores. Coke products and other brands will occupy the remaining 40%. This is a merchandising understanding; consumers should not notice any difference in brand choice offerings.

Beverage vending machines will be remain non-exclusive, dispensing Coke and Pepsi products 50%-50% as before, but service will be increased with new machines and additional vending sites. Snack vending will continue to be provided by Canteen Vending. Expect new locations and expanded product offerings with increased emphasis on healthier options. Machine debit/credit card readers will be introduced.

10-year agreement offers financial benefits of exclusivity without single-provider product limitations

The new beverage and vending contracts were reached after a rigorous, competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process and review. Evaluation Committee members were from Athletics, Auxiliary Services, Business Affairs and Student Affairs.

“This agreement was in the best interest of the University as a whole,” said Rick Torres, Business Services Program Manager for Reprographics, Vending and ATMs. “It gives UNCC additional resources without significantly limiting product choice.” Torres explains, “At other schools with exclusivity contracts, competing products are all but eliminated. Our contracts allow more freedom for consumer preference.”

Torres sites Main Street Market in the Cone University Center as an example. The food service pods in Main Street will have Pepsi brands in the fountains and bottled drink coolers but there will be vending machines offering Coke products a few steps away. “It’s a good agreement,” adds Torres. “No one will have to go without the brands they love.”

For questions and more information, contact ricktorres@uncc.edu

On Thursday, April 26, the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees approved permit rates for 2012-2013 as follows:

Yes, prices went up

Rates increased again, although the percentage is less than in the past two years. Business Services has endeavored to keep prices as low as the financial model will allow, while adding new decks and parking control technology that will benefit campus now and in the future.

The principal factor that determines permit pricing is the cost of new deck construction and replacing flat lots with decks.

It’s expensive to design, construct and maintain new parking decks needed to accommodate enrollment and demand. When surface lots must make way for new buildings and residence halls, those spaces must be replaced with decks.

What’s new for 2012-2013

All permits will be hangtags this year

Each hangtag will have an embedded RFID (Radio Frequency ID) that will open gated lots as soon as that technology can be added.

• Faculty and Staff who have purchased a gate card will no longer have a separate card to open the gate. The RFID on their hangtag will be activated; simply pulling up to the gate will open it.
• This technology will also allow Commuter students to access the new CRI deck (scheduled to open in mid-September). Resident Students will be allowed to park in the CRI deck after 6PM.

Because not everyone likes hanging a tag from the rear view mirror, PaTs will offer an approved window pouch that applies to the driver’s side of the windshield so the permit can be read from a windshield display. Window pouches will come in packs of two and cost $1 per pack.

Multi-vehicle registration

To register more than one vehicle to a hangtag, the cost is $15, unchanged from last year. You may register as many vehicles as you like to any one tag.

Carpools

Carpools need to be registered with Parking and Transportation Services. A multi-vehicle hangtag listing all the carpool vehicles and their owners will be set up.

New benefit for carpoolers: Each vehicle in the carpool will be allowed up to 10 free daily temporary permits per academic year. That way, on days when you need to drive your own car and not be a part of the carpool, you may legally park. Daily temporary passes can be picked up at the PaTS office in advance of the day needed, or you may park in front of the PaTS office for long enough to procure that day’s permit.

Discount remote parking options to continue

Lower-priced permit options for Faculty/Staff and Commuters include:

Lot 6A (at the corner of Cameron and John Kirk, served by the Rt. 50 Red Line shuttle)

Lot 27 (on Toby Creek, near Harris Alumni Center), a walk-in lot

Remote parking at Starlight Cinema (North Tryon Street) served by Rt. 49 Green Line from 6AM to 6PM weekdays.

FAQs about permit prices

Why does it cost so much to park my car for a few hours a day?

Campus parking has to be self-supporting. This is because:

• State funding is not used to pay for parking facilities;
• Tuition dollars do not supplement parking;
• Collected citation fines cannot supplement construction or maintenance of parking facilities.

What do Permit fees pay for?

Almost all of it goes toward design and construction new parking decks, maintenance and debt service (paying back construction bonds) of existing decks/lots, with a small percentage going toward traffic control staffing and support of the CATS Campus Shuttle.

Where does the money for parking citation fines go?

There are State statutes governing this (GS 115C-457.1-3 - page 305) determining that civil fines (as well as penalties and forfeitures) less the cost of collection have to be remitted to the State; then the State allocates the money to local public schools.

The cost of collection is capped at 20%, regardless of what it may actually cost the agency or municipality to collect the fines. Enforcement and collection costs the University more than the amount we’re permitted to keep. Business Services remits the 80% of all fines collected to the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) monthly.

PaTS and the University do not gain financial benefit from citation fines. In fact,

• it costs us money to enforce permits and deter illegal parking;
• expect to see more lots and decks being controlled by gate systems; they require less citation enforcement;
• more gates and less citation enforcement benefits campus as whole because automated parking control lowers cost.

These measures, along with other polices, such as forcing contractor vehicles to park off campus and offering discount remote parking options, help ease some of the demand. As demand levels off, so should permit price increases.

For questions about permits and parking for 2012-2013, contact Parking and Transportation Services. Write unccpark@uncc.edu, call 704-687-0161, or start up a conversation on Twitter, @unccparking. 

More information to follow about parking disruptions expected over the summer and the upcoming academic year. There’s a lot of new building construction in the immediate future that will impact parking, especially on the South side of campus (it’s going to get grim around the highrises). Updates will continue next week and over the summer. They’ll all be posted to aux.uncc.edu/news and linked on the Auxiliary Services at UNC Charlotte Facebook page.

There will be a period of "relaxed permit enforcement," from Wednesday, May 2 (Reading Day) through Friday, May 18.

What this means is that there will no be ticketing for permits in yellow (Commuter), blue (Resident) and orange (Commuter/Resident/Greek combined) lots and metered spaces. Citations for illegal parking — such as parking in a reserved spot/area, on the grass, or in a no-parking zone — will continue. Also, those on the University Tow List for having four (4) or more outstanding citations or who are under active sanction by Dean of Students Office, may still not park on campus and are subject to vehicle towing, booting or further judicial action.

Permit enforcement will resume Monday, May 21.

Shuttle Schedule May 2 – 11, 2012

The campus shuttle will change to an abbreviated service schedule during exam week. Routes will operate as follows:

Route 49 Green Line

• No change in service schedule

Route 47 – Yellow Line

• Wednesday, May 2 – Thursday, May 3;  one bus will run from 7:30AM – 10PM (approximately every 30 minutes)
• Friday, May 4; one bus will run from 7:30AM – 6PM
• Monday, May 7 – Thursday May 10; one bus will run from 7:30AM – 10PM
• Friday, May 11; one bus will run from 7:30AM – 6PM

Route 50 – Red Line

• Wednesday, May 2 – Thursday, May 3; one bus will run from 6:30AM – 10PM (approximately every 30 minutes)
• Friday, May 4; one bus will run from 6:30AM – 6PM
• Monday, May 7 – Thursday May 10; one bus will run from 6:30AM – 10PM
• Friday, May 11; one bus will run from 6:30AM – 6PM

Friday, May 11 is the last day of shuttle service for the academic year. Shuttle will resume next Fall semester.

Farmer's Market

Wednesday, April 25 • 10:30AM-1PM

Look for the Farmer's Market tables as part of the Earth Day exhibits, set up in the CHHS/COE Plaza across from the Union. In addition to lots of fresh local produce and fabulous homemade breads, Chef Cindy plans a culinary demonstration.

Western BBQ Night at RDH

Wednesday, April 25 • 5PM-8:30PM

A couple weeks ago, Crown Commons had a Beach Party-themed dinner. Now it's RDH's turn to host a signature supper!

Work up a Texas-sized appetite and come on out to the RDH Corral. Play some horseshoes and cornhole while meats are sizzling on a grill outside. Then come inside for some deeelicious West-of-the-Mississippi fare:

Hot Line Chuckwagon
Vegetarian Entrée – 3 bean chili over cornbread
BBQ Ribs
Southwestern Spiced BBQ Chicken
BBQ Baked Beans
Mexican Red Rice
Fried Okra
Southwestern Egg Rolls
Corn on the Cob

Grill Station Chuckwagon
Rodeo Burger (burger with cheddar cheese, jalapenos, BBQ sauce and onion rings)
Vegetarian Black Bean Burger with Pepper Jack

Salad Chuckwagon
Potato Salad
Macaroni Salad
Cole Slaw
Spiced Herb Quinoa salad with tofu

Pizza Chuckwagon
Spicy Tortilla Pizza

So pull on your boots and head over for a great all-you-care-to-eat cowboy feast. Yee-haw!