Foraker is Director of Housing & Hospitality Services.
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By Michael Foraker
A recent editorial in the Daily Bruin (“Students must
fight $700 housing fee hike,” Viewpoint, May 29) expressed
strong support for “UCLA administrators and students to act
as if housing is the integral part of the campus that it is.”
The editorial also expressed concern that the housing program is
unsympathetic to student financial needs and acts in a vacuum when
setting housing rates.
UCLA is in fact deeply committed to the housing program as a key
resource that is 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. And while the housing program is a self-supporting entity
responsible for managing the financial burden of new construction
without financial support from the state, it has consistently
demonstrated a strong commitment to both resident input and
sustaining affordability whenever rate increases have been
necessary.
In Fall 2001, UCLA housed 7,334 undergraduate students on
campus, including 94 percent of new entering freshmen and 70
percent of second-year students (representing 100 percent of those
who lived on-campus during their first year at UCLA and requested a
second year of housing). In addition, approximately 3,000
upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral
scholars and faculty lived in university-owned apartments off
campus. In total, university-owned housing was home for
approximately 10,300 students, faculty and staff in 2001-2002, and
we provided housing for 26 percent of the total student enrollment.
This is a significant change from the largely commuter campus UCLA
was just 15 years ago, when only 17 percent of students could be
accommodated in university-owned housing.
Our increased ability to house students on campus is the
realization of the vision articulated in the Student Housing Master
Plan, first developed in the1980s. This Plan, revised in 1990,
articulated a desire to “transform” UCLA from a
commuter to a residential campus by guaranteeing housing for two
years to new entering freshmen and for one year to transfer
students. (It should be noted that UCLA is currently the only UC
campus that provides guaranteed housing to second-year
undergraduates and first-year transfer students.) The Plan also
called for making housing available for up to 50 percent of new
entering graduate students. These goals led to construction of the
Sunset Village and De Neve Plaza on-campus residential communities
and the redevelopment of the 33-acre family student housing
accommodations off campus. The Plan also was the guiding document
for the current planned construction of approximately 2,000 single
graduate student bed spaces on the Southwest Campus.
Despite our notable success in planning for and meeting student
housing needs with the 1990 Student Housing Master Plan, the campus
housing program faces several challenges this decade.
Among the most pressing are the increase in enrollment
anticipated between 2000 and 2010, the need to reduce triple room
occupancy, and the need to provide suitable housing options to
upper-division undergraduates and single graduate students. To
address these needs, a housing master planning committee was
appointed in 2000. The committee’s goals were (1) to
establish the long-term strategic aspirations for the housing
program at UCLA and (2) to reaffirm the linkage of the housing
program’s goals with institutional objectives in support of
the campus’s academic mission.
Shaped over a year-long period by the committee of two dozen
faculty, 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 UCLA Student Housing Master Plan 2000-2010 calls for
construction or acquisition of up to 4,700 new bed spaces within
the next decade, which will increase the number of students in
university-owned housing to 14,449 ““ 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. Single graduate students
also will be guaranteed two years of housing, and students with
families will be guaranteed housing for as long as the student is
making normal academic progress toward his or her degree. 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.
The addition of new housing at UCLA will not occur without a
substantial price tag. It is currently estimated that these new bed
spaces and concurrent renovation work to the existing high-rise
facilities, will cost approximately $455 million. As a
self-supporting entity not eligible for state funds, UCLA’s
housing program relies primarily on revenues from students and
summer conference guests for repayment of this debt. Despite
unprecedented growth in inventory and increased debt service, the
housing program will continue to do everything it can to mitigate
future rate increases. For the 2002-2003 academic year,
UCLA’s residence hall room and board rates are fifth lowest
in the UC system. University Apartment rental rates are well below
rental rates for comparable private-sector housing.
While increased student and summer conference housing rates are
inevitable if we are to continue the growth outlined in the Housing
Master Plan, the housing program does consider affordability in
setting rates and does solicit and welcome input from the resident
population ““ such as suggestions and service trade-offs that
could result in reduced rents.
The On-Campus Residential Council, Policy Review Board and the
University Apartment South Residence Association are excellent
avenues for obtaining resident feedback and are represented by
thoughtful, forward-thinking individuals who focus on the same
ultimate goal for the housing program that the university has
articulated ““ to provide quality services at affordable
prices.
For years, UCLA has acknowledged the importance of
university-owned housing as a resource to support the recruitment
and retention of students and to enrich the quality of student life
at UCLA. The housing program also has been committed to providing
best-in-kind services to the student population at affordable
prices. On-campus satisfaction surveys conducted quarterly have,
for the last two years, reflected a satisfaction rate of 88 percent
for dining services, 90 percent for maintenance and more than 95
percent satisfaction with housekeeping and front desk programs. In
addition, in the annual on-campus “Quality of Life”
survey, more than 91 percent of current residents indicate that
living on campus has made them feel a part of UCLA, and 95 percent
categorize their experiences within on-campus housing as a positive
experience.
UCLA Housing looks forward to a continued collaboration with
resident and student leadership and with the campus community to
achieve our shared goals for the future of the housing program at
UCLA.