MUSC parking director receives lifetime achievement award

The International Parking Institute honored Melinda S. Anderson with the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Anderson, who is CAPP certified with the IPI, is the director of the Office of Parking Management at MUSC. She is one of three recipients to receive this award, which was created in 2015 to recognize individuals for career-long service and leadership in the parking and transportation industry.

In her long-serving career, Anderson helped guide MUSC’s parking system through significant growth, dramatic changes and shifts in technology.

Anderson credits MUSC and the Department of Finance and Administration with providing her with the education, experiences, opportunities and colleagues who serve as resources today.

In 1978, she joined as manager of a small parking operation, when the parking system consisted of 2,000 parking spaces and one multi-story parking garage. Today, she oversees a large self-managed parking system, which will soon encompass 9,300 spaces and seven multi-story garages. MUSC’s Parking Management conducts more than 1 million annual patient-visitor transactions, along with managing the parking needs for nearly 13,000 employees and 3,000 students and residents. Valet services are central to the operation.

An active member of IPI since 1983, Anderson was among the first graduates in the CAPP certification graduating class in 1994. She also served on numerous IPI committees and task forces, presented at conferences and contributed to the group’s publication, The Parking Professional, regularly. In 1996, she was elected to IPI’s board of directors and also served as the organization’s chair from 2003 to 2005. Additionally, Anderson helped found the Carolinas Parking Association and later served on its board and was elected president.

She credits IPI with providing the educational and training ground for her career, citing its educational courses and exposure to developing technology, new systems and parking practices.