September 17, 2001 Students move in as UCSC gears up for fall quarter By Jim Burns The first day of classes in the 2001-02 school year at UCSC is Wednesday, September 19. Students began moving into university housing on Thursday, September 13, and were scheduled to continue doing so through Sunday, September 16. Move-in day was doubly demanding Friday for the father of twin students Nathan and Megan Childress. Photo: Louise Donahue Here are some facts and figures about this year's student body, what the campus is doing to house students, and the new academic programs the campus is offering: Enrollment UCSC is expecting an opening-day enrollment of approximately 12,700 students, 556 more students than were officially enrolled last fall (12,144). Enrollment totals become official following the third week of instruction. Of the 12,700 students, approximately 11,500 are expected to be undergraduates; 1,200 are expected to enroll in graduate studies. Of the 11,500 undergraduates expected to enroll, approximately 4,100 will be new students (freshmen and transfer students). These 4,100 new undergraduates were admitted from among 24,086 applicants, a record number for undergraduate admission. Profile of New Freshmen: Approximately 3,100 of the 4,100 new undergraduates expected will be freshmen. Of the total number of freshmen expected, a total of 1,113 identified themselves as African American, Chicano, Latino, American Indian, or Asian/Asian American; of the freshman enrolled last fall, a total of 1,054 were from those ethnic groups. The most popular majors among freshmen who have already declared are in the areas of biological sciences (294) and psychology (258). The Jack Baskin School of Engineering, beginning its fifth fall, attracted 316 freshmen who declared in the following majors: Computer Science (175), Computer Engineering (86), Electrical Engineering (28), and Information Systems Management (27). Among the freshmen expected to enroll at UCSC this fall are 36 Regents Scholars. Among the most academically accomplished high school graduates, these students will receive UC's most prestigious scholarship, which covers all university fees for four years. The number of Regents Scholars who have accepted UCSC's offer to enroll has more than doubled since 1995, when 16 students enrolled. This year's freshmen who are Regents Scholars have an average grade-point average of 4.2-4.3 and average SAT scores of 1430. Ten other new students, transferring to UCSC this fall, qualified for the same scholarship; they had an average GPA of 4.0. Among new and continuing students, UCSC's student body now includes 200 Regents Scholars. Housing UCSC Students To help offset a shortage of rental housing in the surrounding community, UCSC has increased the capacity of its university-sponsored undergraduate housing by 1,108 bed spaces in the past four years--from 4,233 in fall 1997 to 5,341 this fall. In addition, on-campus housing includes accommodations for 82 graduate students in the campus's Graduate Student Apartments near Kresge College, apartments for approximately 250 students in Family Student Housing, and space for 50 students in the campus's RV Park. In all, UCSC will open the quarter providing university-sponsored housing to 5,723 undergraduate and graduate students. The Village, which had provided modular housing for students on the Colleges Nine and Ten site, will reopen on Saturday, September 15. Eight of the total 17 modular units of the Village will be ready for occupancy then, two weeks ahead of the previous estimate of October 1. This will provide housing for 72 students. The other nine buildings (81 bed spaces) will open in phases this fall, beginning in early October. This year is the second that new apartments at College Nine will be occupied. The housing is providing accommodations for 306 students. Included in the total of university-sponsored housing are accommodations for 248 students at the Holiday Inn (now called the "UCSC Inn & Conference Center") on Ocean Street near downtown Santa Cruz; the Holiday Inn was home to 83 students in a block of rooms last fall. UCSC's total housing capacity also includes 86 students who will occupy 54 apartments in the University Town Center on Pacific Avenue. (An additional 20 bed spaces in the center are reserved for UCSC Extension students enrolled in the English Language International Program.) In all, the campus will be housing 45 percent of its student body in university-sponsored housing, the highest percentage of any UC campus. In addition to students who will reside in university-sponsored housing, UCSC has secured 144 rooms in 10 local motels participating in the Slug Housing Partnership Program. In its fifth year, this program links students with local motels, which rent rooms to students on a monthly basis during the academic year (when there is less tourist demand for rooms). UCSC is continuing to build housing for students this year: up to 400 new bed spaces are expected to be available this winter quarter with the opening of the College Nine residence halls; College Ten residence halls, also providing housing for 400, will open next fall. New Programs for UCSC Students: The Baskin School of Engineering has added a new B.S. program in bioinformatics. In the biological sciences, UCSC is offering new B.A. and B.S. programs in neuroscience and behavior and a new B.S. program in plant sciences (beginning winter 2002). In Earth sciences, there is a new B.A. combined major in Earth sciences/anthropology and a new B.S. concentration in planetary sciences. The Film and Digital Media Department is offering a new undergraduate minor program. The Physics Department has added (beginning winter 2002) a B.S. program in astrophysics.