With the three-day on-campus housing sign-up period ending
today, UCLA Housing says it is pleased with the initial interest in
the residence halls and is confident that the new dormitories will
be completed in time for residents to move in.
For the first time in recent years, UCLA guaranteed housing to
second-year students because of the opening of two new high-rise
residence halls on the Hill: Rieber Vista and Hedrick Summit
Residential Plazas.
Assistant Director of Housing Services Frank Montana said that
based on figures from 2001, UCLA Housing projects that 2,800 of the
3,602 first-year students eligible for housing next year will
choose to stay on campus. In addition to this high return rate,
1,079 of 2,804 second-years eligible for housing in the fall have
showed interest in returning by filing out the required on-campus
housing form in March.
Montana said the option to live in a single room may have
attracted some students to continue to live on campus, as 208 of
330 single occupancy rooms in the new buildings were already filled
by the end of the sign-up period Tuesday. Housing expects that all
the residential buildings will be filled to capacity next year and
is very confident that the new residential plazas will be completed
in time for residents to move in this fall, Montana said. Hedrick
Summit is projected to be completed by summer and construction on
Rieber Vista is expected to be finished by this August.
Because the housing office has been in close contact with the
contractors, they do not expect inclement weather, a lack of
materials or a labor shortage to delay construction, as was the
case with Weyburn Terrace graduate housing.
Weyburn Terrace, the new university graduate student apartment
complex in Westwood Village, took much longer to construct than was
originally estimated, due to recurring obstacles such as a lack of
materials and workers.
“Weyburn is a unique situation in that there were three
different contractors working on it. Things here on campus have run
smoothly. When building apartments, it’s a lot more
complicated than a residence hall. It’s a different company
and a different process,” Montana said.
If the demand is not as high as anticipated, Montana said many
of the rooms currently designated as triples will become doubles so
no rooms remain vacant.
“We are always looking to fill the residence halls,”
Montana said. “We want to open with a full
occupancy.”
Some second-year students say they are opting to continue their
residency on campus because of its convenience and sense of
community.
“The residential restaurants are right here, and
it’s a short trip to class. Plus, it’s a whole lot more
social than the apartments. It’s the whole community
feeling,” said Amanjot Mangat, a second-year undeclared
student.
Other students do not find the on-campus housing as
appealing.
“I feel like it’s boarding school,” said
Kaitlan Briles, a second-year student who plans to live in an
apartment again next year.