The university is explaining its guidelines for electric scooters after complaints from students, faculty and staff.
Tamara Long, vice president for enrollment and student engagement, sent an email last Friday to all of campus explaining that scooters may only be ridden outside, scooters cannot be charged inside and scooters should be parked near bike racks. The email also said that permits will be required for scooters in August 2026.
“This semester, Student Life staff members will issue warning notices to e-scooters parked or stored inside buildings to notify owners of the new expectations,” the email said. “Scooters parked inside campus buildings or blocking doors, ramps, stairs, etc. will be relocated to the nearest designated parking area.”
Long said the guidelines were clarified in response to complaints the university had received.
“We just started getting more and more complaints and frustrations from students, faculty and staff that were like, ‘Why are there scooters everywhere?’” Long said. “If you think about any student that maybe has a visual impairment or is wheelchair bound? Scooters have been blocking entryways.”
She said she was concerned about the lithium-ion batteries used to charge the scooters, which have recently been in the news for catching fire in college dorm rooms. On March 4, a San Diego State University dorm was damaged after a lithium-ion battery ignited, injuring one student, according to an NBC 7 article.
Student Life will begin issuing warnings this semester to e-scooters that are not parked correctly. They will be relocated to the nearest parking area if they are left inside. Next semester, however, this may result in fines from ACUPD. Long said leadership is still working to determine the specific details of the fines.
The decision to clarify the rules was made in partnership with the Student Government Association, which helped ensure students’ opinions were represented in the guidelines, said SGA President Tamil Adele, senior criminal justice major from Midland.
“They want to make sure that they are connecting with students and making sure that whatever policies they’re rolling out would be beneficial,” Adele said. “I went to SGA and read to them what I had, and I collected feedback.”
She said that moving forward, SGA will work to keep the permit cost low and ensure there are charging stations for the scooters.
Long said she wants students to continue to use scooters as an alternative to driving.
“I get that for some students it’s affordable transportation to and from their house off campus,” Long said. “At the same time, it got to a place where this was not sustainable, and we felt we needed to address it.”
