Construction nuisance necessary to vision of residential campus

UCLA is deeply committed to the housing program as a key
resource essential to the university’s academic mission.
Since the 1980s, we have had a clear road map for transforming the
university from a commuter campus to a residential one.

The ongoing construction on the Hill is necessary to meet this
vision. We understand living in on-campus housing during this
dynamic period of growth may at times be inconvenient, particularly
for those living immediately adjacent to construction sites.

Our staff works closely with students living in
construction-affected areas to assist them with specific concerns
they may have regarding their living and learning environment.
Based on resident input, many mitigation programs have been put
into place, with more scheduled to be rolled out during the
remainder of this year. All of the programs are expressly developed
to assist residents through the construction process.

On the whole, we have found a great deal of success with our
ability to work with both residents and the project teams to
mitigate construction impacts. Methods of doing so include allowing
residence hall students to dine in any of our residential dining
rooms, assisting in finding alternative study space on the core
campus, as well as in adjacent housing facilities, and helping
residents to relocate to available alternative residence hall
buildings that individual residents believe to be less
impacted.

But the key to a successful mitigation program is regular
communication of activities and schedules. Housing staff meet
regularly with residents to discuss concerns and communicate
anticipated construction schedules through a variety of avenues,
including the housing options brochure, the housing Web site, the
housing contract, meetings and postings on the construction
bulletin boards located in each facility.

Construction is essential to meet our vision of forming UCLA
into a residential campus.

In fall 2003, university-owned housing was home to approximately
10,400 students, faculty and staff ““ including approximately
25 percent of the total student enrollment. This is a significant
change from the largely commuter campus UCLA was just 15 years
earlier, when university-owned housing accommodated only 17 percent
of our student population.

Our increased ability to house students on campus is the
realization of the vision articulated in the Student Housing Master
Plan, first developed in the 1980s. This plan, revised in 1990,
articulated a desire to “transform” UCLA from a
commuter to a residential campus and led to the construction of
Sunset Village and De Neve Plaza, and the redevelopment of the
33-acre family student housing accommodations off-campus. The plan
was also the guiding document for the current construction of up to
2,000 beds for single graduate students southwest of campus.

Despite success in planning for and meeting student housing
needs with the 1990 Master Plan, a second housing master planning
committee was appointed by the executive vice chancellor in 2000,
with the goal of examining the long-term strategic aspirations for
the UCLA housing program and affirming the linkage of the housing
program’s goals with institutional objectives.

Shaped over a yearlong period by the committee of two dozen
faculty members, students and administrators, the UCLA Student
Housing Master Plan 2000-2010 set forth the goals for housing at
UCLA for the current decade. The finalized plan was approved by
Chancellor Carnesale in 2001.

The current plan calls for construction or acquisition of up to
4,700 new bed spaces this decade, increasing the number of students
in university-owned housing to 14,449 ““ approximately 39
percent of the projected student population.

The plan also proposes changes in the campus housing guarantee
policy, increasing the guarantee for incoming freshmen from two to
four years, and the guarantee for transfer students from one to two
years.

Students with their own families will be guaranteed housing as
long as they are making normal academic progress toward their
degrees, and highly recruited single graduate students will also be
guaranteed two years of housing. The planning principles enumerated
in the Master Plan clearly outline the critical support role of the
housing program with regard to the academic mission of the
university.

In support of the new plan, construction of new housing
facilities has begun. The construction projects currently underway
in the northwest campus include Hedrick North (765 beds scheduled
for completion in winter 2005), Rieber West (591 beds scheduled for
completion by fall 2005), and Rieber North (630 beds scheduled for
completion by fall 2006).

First-floor renovations of Hedrick Hall are scheduled for
completion in June 2004, and for Sproul Hall in spring 2004. The
Rieber Hall first-floor renovation will begin this summer. On the
southwest campus, the Weyburn Terrace apartment project is
underway, with anticipated opening of all 1,387 phase one beds by
fall 2004.

UCLA Housing and Hospitality Services looks forward to a
continued collaboration with resident and student leadership, and
with the campus community, to achieve our shared goals for the
current and future generations of UCLA students.

Foraker is the director of UCLA Housing and Hospitality
Services.