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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), faced a complex challenge in managing guest and departmental parking. Prior to Offstreet, their parking team relied on a manual process involving fillable PDFs, physical permits, and outdated machines. The parking operations team, led by Mike Hamil and Tony Langendorf, set out to modernize their systems and align with their overarching campus goal: going fully digital.
The transition to Offstreet aimed not only to replace outdated systems but also to improve guest and departmental experiences across the university, reduce administrative workload, and increase visibility and control over parking usage.
Before Offstreet, departmental parking requests were handled through emailed PDFs, with office staff manually processing and punching holes in hundreds of physical permits. Departments had to pick them up in person, and miscommunication or delays were happening often. Logging and tracking usage was labor-intensive and error-prone, especially when it came to audits or reconciling unused permits.
“It took hours… We had to punch holes, handwrite on permits. That time is gone now.” - Mike Hamil
Guests had to use outdated pay stations and codes, often waiting in line or encountering broken machines. This created friction for campus visitors, especially during high-traffic times or after-hours.
“They would have to find a pay station, hope it worked, and maybe still get a ticket while picking up their permit.” - Mike Hamil
Departments had to purchase passes in bulk, maintain manual logs, and hope that usage matched records. There was little visibility into real-time utilization, leading to inefficiencies and billing issues.
In 2025, SIUE made a switch to Offstreet in hopes of solving their guest parking problems, and contributing to their goal to be fully digital.
Rather than mandating an immediate switch, Mike took a proactive approach - visiting high-usage departments in person, walking them through the system, building tenant links live during meetings, and even running demos with test license plates.
“I actually met with departments individually and showed them how easy it was. That made all the difference.” - Mike Hamil
This hands-on approach paid off. After early success with key departments like Housing, word spread quickly across campus, and the parking team began receiving inbound requests from other departments to get set up.
“We started with our biggest user - Housing - and before long, other departments were emailing us saying, ‘Can you come switch us over too?’” - Mike Hamil
Offstreet’s flexible setup allowed departments to:
This flexibility benefited both tech-savvy users and those less comfortable with digital tools, such as visitors to the dental clinic.
“If you’re dealing with an older population, the receptionist can just input the plate. It takes less than a minute.” - Mike Hamil
With Offstreet integrated into SIUE’s LPR system, enforcement became simple. Departmental usage reports are automatically sent to officers, aiding transparency and preventing abuse.
“We monitor reporting every month. If a department sees unusual usage, they can flag it. We just reset the link and move on.” - Mike Hamil
“I used to be out there punching permits. Now we use that time elsewhere.”
“I thought it would take a lot more work. Instead, people started reaching out to me asking to get set up.” - Mike Hamil
“It’s their first experience on campus. Offstreet makes that a good one.”
“They don’t have to reach out to us as often. They can just do their day-to-day work.” - Mike Hamil
Go in person: The key to success at SIUE was having someone (Mike) go department to department, show how easy Offstreet was, and answer questions in real-time.
Start with a champion department: Housing was a perfect test case.
Let the system speak for itself: Departments started requesting access after hearing how well it worked elsewhere.
Leverage Offstreet’s support: The SIUE team praised Offstreet’s responsiveness, quick fixes, and ability to implement changes quickly, something they struggled with in past vendor relationships.
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Looking to improve your event parking process and guest experience? Meet with a team member to see if Offstreet is a good fit for you.
