Students arrived at school this fall to a couple of surprises: automatic towel dispensers in the bathrooms and a new way to display parking permits.

For 40 years, the school has had lever-matic paper towel dispensers with a hand pump.

At the beginning of October the lever-matic dispensers vanished.

“I had no idea the dispensers had been switched,” sophomore Erin Johnson said.

All the newer units were test models. Custodial manager Raymond Francis and his staff have been observing six different towel dispensers for two months, searching for possible replacements.

Francis decided to try a touchless dispenser because “it’s a perception thing. We want people to view the bathrooms as sanitary.”

The model chosen was a Kimberly Clark dispenser. A person pulls on the edge of the paper to retrieve a new sheet.

“I think the new dispensers are better because they might help reduce the spread of illness,” freshman Valerie Bonner said.

Students have also seen a change in parking permits.

The new suction cup parking permits, which replaced the adhesive pouches from last semester, are causing slightly more tickets to be issued as a result of falling permits, said Coordinator of Parking and Transportation Gary Bartlett.

“I really just wanted to give the permits a new look,” he said.

In response to their faulty suction cups, Rydin Decal has sent 4,000 free adhesive pouches. The pouches are available in the parking office.

“I am disappointed the suction cups are not working as well as anticipated,” Bartlett said.