UC Santa Cruz talks new long range development plan

UPDATE 1/24/18 5:53pm
UC Santa Cruz started its long range development plan and it’s getting students and residents talking.

The new plan is in the very beginning stages and school officials are looking at what the school would need if they were to enroll more students.

The plan would not happen overnight, it’s a long term plan that spans over more than 20 years. School officials said the demand for a UCSC education is higher than ever so this plan is to prepare for that.

UCSC Spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason says “we received more than 50 thousand applications this past cycle. So clearly word is out about all the opportunities at UC Santa Cruz.”

They currently have about 18,000 students enrolled. Now officials are looking into what it would take to increase that number to 28-thousand by 2040. Hernandez Jason says, “what we are studying is a 20 year window at which the campus could look at up to 28,000 students. This is a planning figure, so it’s the beginning of the discussion. We’re going to study it, we’re going to evaluate it, we’re really gonna look at it and see what it could mean.”

Students KION spoke with say housing would be the biggest need if the school wants to open enrollment to more students,”New dormitory buildings, and classrooms and some more dormitories for
teachers to live near by campus too,” says one Postdoctoral Fellowship member.
Forth year transfer student Matthew Oveden agreed, “that’d be hard, i think that the housing crisis outside the campus in Santa Cruz is already, I mean, it’s so hard to find housing.”

School officials have acknowledged the need for housing in the county and say that is one of the biggest things they will consider, “with the long range development plan, obviously the housing crisis is front and center with discussions and it’s among the questions that the committee is grappling with is ya know what can the campus do with housing, how many students should we house? can we house? and you know that’s obviously going to be part of the discussion,” says Hernandez-Jason.

Hernandez-Jason says housing is not the only thing that will be looked into, “so it’s looking at what sort of recreational facilities we might need, what sort of classrooms we might need, what research spaces we might need, as well as our transportation needs, housing needs, everything that goes to everything that’s needed to support the student experience.”

Officials said they are opening this discussion so early on because they want to hear from the community and get a sense of what they want to see.

To learn more about UCSC’s Long Range Development plan click here.

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UC Santa Cruz started its long range development plan and it’s getting students and residents talking.

The new plan is in the very beginning stages and school officials are looking at what the school would need if they were to enroll more students.

The plan wouldn’t happen overnight, it’s a long term plan that spans over more than 20 years. School officials said the demand for a UCSC education is higher than ever so this plan is to prepare for that.

This past cycle, school officials said they received more than 50 thousand applicants. They currently have about 18 thousand students enrolled. Now officials are looking into what it would take to increase that number to 28-thousand by 2040.

“You know sort of every part of the campus really gets looked at in terms of the physical support needed. So it’s looking at what sort of recreational facilities we might need, what sort of classrooms we might need, what research spaces we might need, as well as our transportation needs, housing needs, everything that goes to everything that’s needed to support the student experience,” said UCSC spokesman Scott Hernandez Jason.

Officials said they are opening this discussion so early on because they want to hear from the community and get a sense of what they want to see.

KION’s Ashley Keehn has the full story at 6 p.m.