Prowling the parking lots at GC&SU

If you try to cut corners in an effort to beat the parking crunch, you may get busted by Miss Betty.

Betty Hunt, known to most as “Miss Betty,” prowls the Georgia College & State University parking lots everyday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. enforcing the parking rules.

Public Safety Deputy Director Richard Goodson believes Hunt has a critical job in making the parking process work.

“It would be parking bedlam if not for her enforcement efforts,” said Goodson. “She probably writes about 80 percent of the tickets written on campus. She always has a sense of fairness, but she enforces the parking rules as the policy dictates.”

Hunt occasionally hears a protest from a student she tickets, but she said she tries her best to be fair.

“Sometimes they complain,” said Hunt. “But as a whole, they’re okay because I really don’t write them up unless they are wrong, and they know it.”

Director of Public Safety Ken Vance appreciates the sometime delicate situations that Hunt encounters writing tickets.

“She is the only person I know who can do the job she does with virtually no complaints,” said Vance. “She’s just a good Christian woman who has raised a family and now sees the students at GC&SU as her extended family. Like any parent, she does not relish disciplining her children. In Miss Betty’s case, that discipline is in the form of issuing parking citations, but she does her job very well.”

Goodson had the same praise for Hunt’s job performance.

“Most of the time when students come into contact with Ms. Betty they have been given a parking citation,” said Goodson. “That is not the most pleasant of ways to meet someone. She communicates so well with others that you never have to worry about Ms. Betty being in a shouting match over a ticket dispute. As everyone knows, with the emotions over parking tickets, that is quite an accomplishment. Students always complain about tickets, but she rarely gets any personal complaints.
For the most part, I think Ms. Betty has a very good relationship with the students, which is difficult due to the nature of her job.”

Goodson knows Hunt to be a person who cares about people.

“She is a caring person who expresses genuine concern for all those around her,” said Goodson. “Many in the department come to talk to her for comfort and compassion when things are not going well in their personal or professional lives. She is a great person to talk to and confide in. Her gentle nature and compassion make the problems seem less important and stressful than they are and just talking to her seems to relieve a great deal of the burden and stress.”

In addition to her extended family at GC&SU, Hunt has four grown children of her own.

“Ms. Betty is a family person,” continued Goodson. “She is deeply involved with her family. She has a daughter who is a military veteran and is now employed by the Armstrong State University police.”

Hunt has been a GC&SU employee for 12 years and the parking beat keeps her busy.

“Usually Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little slow,” said Hunt. “As a whole, I write a lot of tickets, but they need more parking.”

Goodson and Vance value Hunt’s integrity and see her as an invaluable asset to the Department of Public Safety.

“Ms. Betty is a tireless and vigilant worker who takes her job responsibilities very seriously,” said Goodson. “She is a great employee, but more importantly she is an outstanding person. She has high moral and ethical standards and sets a high professional standard as well.

I don’t think Ms. Betty enjoys having to write anyone a citation, but I think that she knows that it is an important function of the university to control parking and also she knows that it is her job. I am sure she would rather everyone obey the parking rules and she not have to write anyone a ticket.”

“There is no finer employee here at GC&SU then Miss Betty,” said Vance. “I hope students understand that people like her don’t come along often. This university is fortunate to have someone of her impeccable character putting GC&SU first everyday.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 7 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry