In early spring, Rachel Stanley was on the hunt for housing for the upcoming semester. She eventually found The Crest apartments, which offered a ten-month lease.

"It looked great and it was clear that there was no parking pass required," she said. "I read through it, it sounded good and I understood the costs. I signed up and paid the deposit."

That was until Tuesday morning, when Stanley, a junior, was one of about 25 students given a $100 ticket for parking in The Crest without a parking pass.

Formerly considered off-campus housing available through B.C. Parker Real Estate, theuniversity acquired the entire complex of The Crest through The Preiss Company last semester, meaning policies for on-campus housing went into effect. That means Campus Safety and Police patrol the area, including parking lots.

"It's considered parking like any other spot on campus so you need a parking permit," said Chuck Gantos, director of Campus Safety and Police.

In Stanley's opinion, not enough forewarning was given to residents of The Crest.

"It's unprofessional to assume a fee and not tell the people who are affected and then let them know by penalizing them," she said. "If it was two business entities conducting business, they would have to lay all the conditions out on the table ahead of time."

When she received her ticket, Stanley immediately began making phone calls and sending emails in an attempt to figure out the situation. Campus Safety and Police said her ticket would be negated if she purchased the required $160 parking pass by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13.

According to Smith Jackson, vice president and dean of Student Life, the Wednesday deadline is not a final one but will reflect meetings and discussions taking place between students and administration in the coming week.

While some students learned of this option by calling the office, they were not officially notified until an email Friday from Chris Jamison, residence director for The Crest. To Stanley, that's not acceptable.

"I would like parking passes not to be required through this school year," she said. "If they want to do it in the future, next year, I would understand that. I understand there are reasons for registering cars, but because students signed up to live here under the impression that no parking registration was required, there should not be one."

In an email Monday to residents of The Crest, junior Lauren Clapp said she is meeting with Gantos to discuss the possibility of extending the deadline to purchase a parking pass.

"A week really isn't enough time to come up with $160, and it's completely ridiculous to expect students to pay so much on such short notice," she wrote. "I would encourage you all to do the same. Maybe if we overwhelm them with requests they will realize how ridiculous the whole situation really is."

Senior Kileigh Browning purchased a new vehicle two weeks ago under the impression that she would not have to pay for parking.

"Even if they were to postpone it, it's so much money to park so far away from campus," Browning said.

Junior David Brown, SGA president for the Class of 2013 and resident of The Crest, took the issue to Jackson, specifically the lack of enough parking on campus for students, faculty and staff.

"We're building up the university, we have a larger than expected freshman class, the services at Elon are expanding," Brown said. "We need to scale the university with the (number) of people that come here. We're going to need infrastructure, we have to plan for the future, not just on an academic and financial level but on an infrastructural level."

According to Brown, Jackson assured him that he would address the issue with both Campus Safety and Police and Residence Life. Jackson said he referred the issue to business and finance and it was discussed Monday, but he had not heard back.

"We've not developed a response, but you can certainly expect to have a response soon," he said. "I certainly want students to come to me if they have any kind of concern."

Brown said he will continue to work with administration on the issue.

"As far as a change in parking and a change in fees, that's going to be a long-haul project," Brown said. "I might not see changes in between this year and next"