Staff: Shanice Hill
With more than 25,000 parking spaces on East Carolina University’s campus, Shanice Hill’s top priority is making sure that everyone who comes to campus feels welcomed.
Hill is the customer service supervisor in the Department of Parking and Transportation Services, where she has worked since she was a student at ECU.
ECU alumna Shanice Hill started as a temporary student worker in the parking and transportation office, where she now works as customer service supervisor.
“I have lots of different roles within the parking department, but my main objective is frontline customer service,” Hill said. “I ensure that all guests, visitors, staff and faculty feel welcomed to the university. We are one of the few departments that have some form of interaction with anyone that comes to our campus.”
Sometimes that interaction comes when people aren’t having their best day — like getting a parking ticket. Even when a customer gets angry, Hill said she keeps a positive attitude.
“By the time you talk to people, you realize that it’s not even about the ticket they got, it’s about something that happened before they came to campus. So that’s just the one thing that broke the camel’s back so to speak,” she said. “You just talk to them and explain, and after a while they calm down. And they apologize and say they were having a bad day and go into what happened to them.
“I try to maintain my positive attitude even when customers are being irate. I respectfully let them know that we are going to have a conversation about the parking citations or concerns. We will not yell and scream at each other, and I will help you the best way I know how,” she said. “I understand that we all make mistakes, and everyone deserves second chances. We are an institution, and we are here to educate.”
Parking and transportation officials help to ensure campus safety by managing, operating and maintaining university parking lots and enforcing registration procedures. “Just imagine if there wasn’t a parking and transportation department,” she said.
Parking is required to be self-supporting by North Carolina law. ECU’s department doesn’t receive state funding, student fees or tuition for operations. Most of the department’s operating funds comes from parking permit fees. The department sells about 23,000 permits each year, Hill said.
In addition to Hill’s face-to-face work with customers, she is involved in updating the department’s website and setting up the permitting system. Annual renewal is always hectic with the mass of faculty, staff and students purchasing permits as well as educating incoming students about parking at ECU, she said.
“We’re working on our communication and making our presence known to let people know ‘parking is here. There are parking rules and policies that must be enforced and followed,’” she said. Presentations occur during new student and faculty orientation, and fliers are distributed along with social media and email to provide information about parking and permits on campus.
“We’re always trying to find ways to improve,” Hill said.
One of the latest changes has been implementing a license plate recognition system to replace the old system of parking permit decals on vehicle windshields. In 2019, the Main Campus Student Center Parking Garage opened with 724 parking spaces and two electric vehicle charging stations. More spaces will be coming with the construction of another parking deck as part of the Brody Medical Education Building project on the Health Sciences Campus. The department also is in the process of reorganizing and hiring a new director.
Hill enjoys the family atmosphere at ECU. She grew up in Greenville, graduated from D.H. Conley High School and earned her associate degree from Pitt Community College in 2013. She transferred to ECU and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business education with a concentration in information technologies in 2017.
Hill started working full time in the ECU parking and transportation cashier’s office as a temp while a student, and advanced through the years to become a supervisor. Hill works in the main office in Building 122 on 10th Street. The department also has an office on ECU’s Health Sciences Campus.
FAST FACTS
Name: Shanice Hill
Title: Customer service supervisor, Parking and Transportation
Hometown: Greenville
Colleges attended and degrees: Pitt Community College, Associate of Arts; East Carolina University, Bachelor of Science in business education with a concentration in information technologies
PIRATE PRIDE
Years working at ECU: Seven
What I do at ECU: I have lots of different roles within the parking department, but my main objective is frontline customer service. I ensure that all guests, visitors, staff and faculty feel welcomed to the university. We are one of the few departments that have some form of interaction with anyone that comes to our campus.
What I love about ECU: ECU is a major part of my family. I have had family members that have worked here and graduated from here. I enjoy the community feel of ECU and us all working together to achieve the goals and mission of ECU.
QUICK QUIZ
What do you like to do when not working? When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my daughter, snuggling with my puppy, Nugget, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family.
Last thing I watched on TV: “Batman: The Dark Night Rises”
First job: Babysitter
Guilty pleasure: Binge-watching YouTube vlogs
Favorite Meal: Hamburger steak with gravy, rice and green beans
One thing most people don’t know about me: I am a huge superhero movie fan and DC comic movies are my favorite!