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Press Releases

September 15, 1999
Contact: Elizabeth Irwin/Jim Burns (831/459-2495)

Editor's Advisory

Back-to-school activities begin September 16 at UC Santa Cruz

First day of instruction is Thursday, September 23

SANTA CRUZ, CA--The first day of classes in the 1999-2000 school year at UC Santa Cruz is Thursday, September 23. Students, however, will be moving into on-campus housing at UCSC on Thursday, September 16, through Saturday, September 18. (See schedule, below, for photo opportunities.) To assist you in your coverage of the new school year, the following information is provided:

Enrollment:

UCSC is expecting an opening-day enrollment of approximately 11,400 students, 419 more students than were officially enrolled last fall (10,981). Enrollment totals become official following the third week of instruction.

Of the 11,400 students, approximately 10,335 are expected to be undergraduates; 1,065 are expected to enroll in graduate studies.Of the undergraduates expected to enroll, approximately 3,350 will be new students (freshmen and transfer students). The total number of new students this year is 82 more than the total number of new students who enrolled last fall (3,268). These 3,350 new undergraduates were admitted from among 18,475 applicants for undergraduate admission.

Profile of New Freshmen:

Approximately 2,450 of the 3,350 new undergraduates expected will be freshmen. Of the total number of freshman expected, 805 identified themselves as African American, Chicano, Latino, American Indian, Asian/Asian American, or Filipino/Filipino American. A three-year summary prepared by the UC Office of the President indicates that the ethnic profile of incoming freshmen at UCSC has become increasingly diverse since 1997, when 708 students identified themselves as belonging to one of the six groups mentioned above. (Fall 1997 was the first quarter in which the University of California was prohibited from considering ethnicity in admissions decisions.)

The two most popular majors among freshmen who have already declared are biology (186) and psychology (181). The Jack Baskin School of Engineering, beginning its third fall, attracted 212 freshmen who declared in the following majors: Computer Science (130), Computer Engineering (60), Electrical Engineering (15), and Information Systems Management (7).

Nearly one-half (47.9 percent) of the expected freshmen come from two regions of the state: the San Francisco Bay Area (31.0 percent) and the Monterey Bay-Silicon Valley (16.9 percent). More than a quarter (26.2 percent) come from the Los Angeles-South Coast region of the state.

Among the freshmen expected to enroll at UCSC this fall are 46 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 nearly tripled since 1995, when 16 students enrolled. This year's Regents Scholars have an average grade-point average of 4.2 and average SAT scores of 1428. (Three other new students, transferring to UCSC this fall, qualified for the same scholarship; among new and continuing students, UCSC's student body now includes 176 Regents Scholars.)

Housing UCSC Students:

To help offset a shortage of rental housing in the surrounding community, UCSC has increased its housing capacity by 943 bed spaces over the past three years--from 4,088 in fall 1996 to 5,031 this fall. (That total does not include accommodations for some 250 students who will live in Family Student Housing and 50 who will reside in the campus's RV Park.)

Of the 943 bed spaces created in the past three years, 224 were added for this academic year, including spaces for 100 students who will live in a block of 53 rooms UCSC has leased from the Holiday Inn on Ocean Street and for 94 students who are expected to occupy 54 new apartments in the University Town Center on Pacific Avenue. (An additional 12 bed spaces in the center will be occupied by English Language International Program students affiliated with UCSC Extension.)

In all, the campus will be housing 47 percent of its student body in university-sponsored housing, the highest percentage of any UC campus. (San Diego, next highest, houses 35 percent of its students.)

In addition to students who will reside in university- sponsored housing, 234 UCSC students are making plans to reside in rooms provided by 21 local motels participating in the Slug Housing Partnership Program. In its third 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).

Later in the 1999-2000 academic year, 280 additional on-campus bed spaces (a net increase of 109) will open for students upon the completion of the College Nine Apartments. That project will replace the temporary housing for 171 undergraduates provided nearby in UCSC's Village. (The campus plans to reopen the Village elsewhere on campus next fall.)

New Programs for UCSC Students:

In the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, the first class of undergraduates majoring in electrical engineering will be starting their junior year this fall.

The campus has also launched new undergraduate pathways in environmental biology (biology major), environmental chemistry (chemistry/biochemistry major), environmental geology and ocean sciences (earth sciences major), and electronic music (music major).

This is the first quarter in which UCSC can begin conferring degrees in its newly approved master's program in environmental studies. The new program joins E.S.'s bachelor's degree and Ph.D. offerings.

Two new Ph.D. programs--in environmental toxicology and politics--have also been approved for fall 1999.

UCSC's Film and Video Department, offering one of the campus's fastest growing majors, has been renamed the Film and Digital Media Department to reflect the changing nature of the field.

Economic Impact:

The largest employer in Santa Cruz County, UCSC brings in a substantial amount of money from outside county borders, most of which is spent in the county. During the 1997-98 year, UCSC was responsible for two-thirds of a billion dollars of economic activity in Santa Cruz County through spending by its faculty, staff, students, out-of-town visitors, and the university itself. (The 1997-98 totals are the most current figures available.)

Actual spending by the university and its employees, students, and visitors totaled $297.3 million; when calculated by an economic multiplier formula, the total jumps to $666.0 million. (The economic multiplier is a calculation used by economists to measure not just the actual dollars spent, but the value of those dollars when they are spent again. In essence, the economic multiplier shows the ripple effect of each dollar spent in an economy.)

Contact:

UCSC administrators are available for phone or in-person interviews to discuss the campus's first-day enrollment projections, the entering class, and other "back-to-school" subjects.

To schedule an interview, please call UCSC's Public Information Office at (831) 459-2495 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Reporters or photographers wishing to cover move-in activities or schedule an interview on Saturday, September 18, may leave a message for Elizabeth Irwin at 459-5226 before noon that day.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES

* Friday, September 17:

Chancellor Greenwood visits the colleges and residence halls; greets arriving students (approximately 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.)

UCSC's chancellor, M.R.C. Greenwood, will visit four (Kresge, Merrill, Crown, and Oakes) of the campus's eight colleges and greet arriving students and their families at residence halls. She will be accompanied during her afternoon tour by Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson; two of UCSC's vice chancellors, Francisco Hernandez of Student Affairs and Thomas Vani of Business and Administrative Services; and Lynda Goff, associate vice chancellor for undergraduate education.

* Saturday, September 18:

Chancellor Greenwood continues her tour of the colleges and residence halls; greets arriving students (approximately 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.)

Chancellor Greenwood and other senior administrators will greet arriving students and their families during visits to the remaining four colleges (College Eight, Porter, Cowell, and Stevenson).

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