There is a new sheriff in town for NIU Parking Services.

The department, formerly under the direction of NIU’s Department of Public Safety, changed hands on Sept. 1, and now is headed by Bob Albanese, associate vice president for Finance and Facilities. Parking Services was previously under Albanese’s charge, but switched to become part of Public Safety in June 2008.

Albanese said the move was made to simplify the finances for the department.

“Parking services has many capital improvement projects coming up,” he said. “With Finance and Facilities in charge, it makes the chain of command and money issues simpler.”

The capital renewal plan includes replacing the parking lot at the School of Nursing, as well as overall campus roadway repair. NIU owns and operates most of the roads on campus, excluding Lucinda Avenue, Normal Road, Carroll Avenue, Locust Street and Annie Glidden Road.

Albanese said his department oversees all expenditures of bond revenue, the main source of funding for capital improvement projects.

There are not expected to be any major shake-ups in the daily operation of Parking Services.

“Kristin [Waddell] is still going to be the director, and there are going to be no real management changes,” Albanese said. “My managing style might be a different from how it was under Public Safety, but that is about it.”

Students should not expect many changes in their interactions with Parking Services, but may be happy to hear that some headaches may be avoided with a new reform plan.

“We are taking a look at reforming the appeals process for parking tickets,” Albanese said. “We want to make it more user-friendly and give our customers a better understanding of where they stand in the process.”

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