DOTS to Move From Student Affairs to Administration and Finance

In a letter to campus today, University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh announced that the Department of Transportation Services (DOTS), now part of the Division of Student Affairs, was being relocated to the Division of Administration and Finance.

Starting July 1, DOTS Executive Director David Allen will report to Vice President for Administration and Finance Carlo Colella, but there are no staffing or organizational changes within DOTS as a result of the move.

Loh said that DOTS flourished under the leadership of Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement and Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Mary Hummel, becoming known for its customer service, particularly to students. The department has also worked to support sustainable alternatives to single-vehicle transportation.

Both the UMD campus and the Greater College Park community are undergoing substantial change as a result of economic and real estate development, including Purple Line construction, which will further connect the campus with the Greater Washington area, Loh said. Meanwhile, the Discovery District is attracting a wide array of companies that partner with university faculty, staff and students on research and innovation. The arrival of Amazon HQ2 in Crystal City, Virginia, with an eventual workforce of 25,000, will have spillover effects in the region and at UMD.

“To better serve the needs of our students, faculty, staff and visitors in the years ahead, we need to coordinate more seamlessly the planning for new construction on and off campus with the planning for transportation and parking,” he said.

For example, Loh said, the Purple Line will reduce the number of vehicles driven to campus, while the growing use of ride-hailing services and the advent of autonomous vehicles will impact transportation planning, the location of new buildings and parking lots, the need for new parking garages, and campus sustainability goals.

“I thank the leadership and staff of DOTS and of Facilities Management for their outstanding work,” Loh said. “The respective contributions of these administrative units will be enhanced by their coordinated planning, thereby improving the university’s capacity to shape its future.”