The inability to get a park at the University of Newcastle's Callaghan campus has emerged a significant factor behind why students are not attending tutorials and other classes.
While some have welcomed the rule, which is designed to address falling tutorial attendance rates and stimulate campus activity, others have labelled it as unworkable and impractical.
And the inability to park at the Callaghan campus or access suitable public transport has been cited as one of the main obstacles.
"My husband has had to drop me off and pick me up after work just so that I can get to a one hour tutorial," Aimee Hancock, who is studying early childhood teaching said.
Ms Hancock, who said catching public transport to the campus from Swansea was impractical, believes the 80 per cent attendance rule would only add to the significant stress that many students already experience.
"A lot of the tutorials are not engaging or are repeated content from earlier in the semester," she said.
In addition to a full time study load, primary teaching student Nicola de Jong from Merewether also has two jobs to support herself.
She also believes the new attendance rule will not work for students with responsibilities away from university.
"The university hasn't thought this through properly," she said.
"If you want to be guaranteed a park you have to get there at 8am; they are definitely all gone by 9.30am."
"There is also the cost. It costs $4.60 whether you are there for an hour or 10 hours."
If she wanted to catch public transport from her house, Ms de Jong would need to catch a bus to the university's city campus NeW Space and then catch a shuttle to the Callaghan campus.
"Before the buses were privatised I used to be able to get a bus from Glebe Road to the uni," she said.
Vice-Chancellor Alex Zelinsky said there were about 6000 car spaces at Callaghan campus, over half of which are for general use.
"We want people to use other forms of transport to get to campus because it's better for the environment - but we know that alternative transport options aren't available to everyone," he said.
"We recently made our ridesharing parking bays free to encourage car pooling; we offer bus shuttles from the CBD to Callaghan every half hour during semester using our hybrid bus and there are bike storage and shower facilities for people who ride to uni".
The university also provides campus shuttle services to move people to their public transport links.
"Our Callaghan campus is directly serviced by rail and bus and increased patronage would support a case for increased services. We will continue to work with government to improve transport options," Professor Zelinsky said.
He said the university was also looking at ways to better utilise existing parking spaces, which would help students who are coming to campus for just one or two classes.
"It would also help bring more members of the community onto campus to access our facilities and services - which we really want to encourage."
IN THE NEWS
- Islington's Christian Langham spent two nights in hospital after dog attack in Wickham Park
- Opposition leader Jodi McKay in Hunter on Friday to talk ports and industrial relations
- Parents keep students home from school investigated for PFAS
- Knights five-eighth Mason Lino is vowing to fight for his NRL career at the club next season despite being told he is free to move on
- A gluten-free diet can change your life - Dan Marshall from CoreFit Newcastle at Mayfield West tells all
- Brian Houston says he does not know if Scott Morrison wanted him to attend a dinner with Donald Trump
