When registration times came earlier in the month, some St. Edward’s University students were shocked to find that they wouldn’t be able to pick classes until they paid outstanding parking fines.

Meanwhile, classes began to fill up, reducing the chances of students getting the schedules they want and the classes they need to graduate.

In October, the Office of Student Financial Services created a list of students that owed money to the school. The fines included anything from library fees or parking tickets to missed payments on monthly payment plans.

The students with outstanding fines were notified that they would have holds on their accounts until they paid their fines.

The list started off with 1,000 students but was recently reduced to 272. Of those 272 students, 187 have fines of over $100, according to Peter Beilharz from the Financial Aid Office.

It is up to each department to report fines to the Office of Student Financial Services, which in turn puts the amount of fines to appear on EdWeb as part of the student’s outstanding balance.

“Students were first e-mailed about their outstanding fines and urged to pay them off before registration time,” Beilharz said.

Parking tickets depend on whether the student receiving the ticket did not have a parking permit, did have a permit but did not put it on the front mirror of his or her car, or if the student parked in an undesignated parking spot or the incorrect lot.

The St. Edward’s University Police Department has the ability to look up whether a student has a parking permit that was not visible or if they never paid for one in the first place.

In many cases, students had ordered and paid for parking permits but had not yet picked the permits up at the Student I.D. office in Holy Cross Hall. The fines are then reduced to $25 – the equivalent to a fine for not displaying a permit.

Removing the Hold

Students with parking tickets can either go to the Office of Student Financial Services and pay the full amount of the ticket, or they can decide to contest the ticket to have it dismissed or the fine reduced.

To begin the appeal process, the student must first fill out an appeal form in the SGA office within 10 academic days of receiving the ticket. The Student Court of Appeals then schedules that student for a court hearing on a first come, first serve basis.

The student will receive an e-mail with his or her court hearing date, time and location. The student must attend, as failure to attend a court hearing results in an automatic no contest and an upheld fine.

After the student attends the hearing, he or she is now notified within three business days of the court’s decision. The Student Court of Appeals then sends the students’ names and decisions of that week to the University Police Department, and UPD bills according to the court’s decision.

If the Student Court of Appeals decides to dismiss or reduce the fine amount, the court will notify the Office of Student Financial Services and remove the hold.

Paying off Fines

All fines must be paid at the Office of Student Financial Services.

Even if only a partial payment is made, the holds on students’ accounts will be automatically removed if the outstanding amount is reduced to below $100.

Beilharz said those students that cannot pay off their full balances have options available to them.

“Students can work with our office,” Beilharz said. “Usually if a student just comes to our office and asks about the fine, the hold is removed and arrangements can be made to pay off the whole amount. We know sometimes things just happen.”