Dear Student,
On Sunday, March 29th, you received a notification that you may be required to move from your current campus residence to another space on campus for the remainder of the spring quarter. While the exact date of relocation and details related to your specific assignment have not yet been determined, we want to share more with you about why these moves are necessary. Our highest priority is supporting the health and well-being of our campus community.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 7,000 students have cancelled their on-campus housing contracts, dramatically reducing our residential population. While we would normally house nearly 9,000 students, the student population on-campus is now approximately 1,200 with an additional 800 people residing in the Family Student Housing complex and in Employee housing.
Students will continue to reside in:
College Nine Residence Halls and Apartments
College Ten Residence Halls and Apartments
Crown Residence Halls and Apartments
Merrill Residence Halls and Apartments
College Apartment communities (with the exception of Porter Bldg F and all Cowell Apartments)
Redwood Grove Apartments
Graduate Housing Apartments
Family Student Housing
Camper Park
Residential areas that will no longer have student residents during Spring 2020:
Porter College Residence Halls and the Transfer Community
Porter College Apartments, Bldg F
Rachel Carson Residence Halls
Oakes College Residence Halls
Cowell College Residence Halls
Cowell College Apartments
Stevenson College Residence Halls
The Village
University Town Center
We fully acknowledge these relocations are stressful and come with a feeling of community loss, and we do not take the decision to make such a requirement lightly. As indicated in your housing agreement, the University maintains the right to assign or reassign you to any university-sponsored residence space that is available. Given the current health crisis, there are many factors contributing to why a relocation is necessary at this time.
Our overarching priority is the safety and well-being of all our students remaining on campus. We plan to relocate students to promote and increase physical distancing, as described by the state and county stay in place orders, while also making sure we have staff available to support the needs of our residential community.
As we seek to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we want to ensure we have space available to help in our response.
Supporting the health of our residential community: We are establishing space on campus where UCSC students and employees may be quarantined or isolated should they become ill. These spaces will be held at the Village, the University Town Center, and Cowell College apartments. Because students in quarantine or isolation have a need for a private residence and private bathroom, we need to have available the ability to utilize all three of these communities for our own campus community needs. We do not wish to have students sharing residential space where another student who is ill may be placed next door to isolate.
Supporting our community:Given the evolving nature of this pandemic and its profound impact on local communities, we are working with the county and other agencies to identify community space needs. The entire UC system is working with their local communities to identify partnerships that support public health needs during this pandemic. We feel this is best for our community, and the broader Santa Cruz community’s needs, to make available completely vacated buildings which is why we cannot continue to have students in residence in these locations.
Additional factors include:
Ensuring quality service:Given the significant reduction in available custodial staffing due to COVID-19, localizing residence hall students within the four designated colleges allows us to more effectively deploy the limited custodial resources currently available.
Providing appropriate staff support:We are better able to effectively staff our housing communities and provide safety and security for our students in consolidated locations.
What are the ways in which we will coordinate this relocation effort?
- Students with disability-related accommodations will have their accommodation honored in their new assignment.
- Students in Cowell College apartments will have priority to relocate to the Stevenson Apartments. Students in Porter Building F will have priority placement in other Porter Apartments.
- Students in college residence halls will have the ability to move to the apartments in their college should they wish to do so. For example, Porter Residence Hall students will be given the opportunity to move to the Porter Apartments. Students who move from the residence halls to the apartments will not have a required meal plan, though they certainly may opt to purchase a meal plan of their choice. If you are currently living in a residence hall and wish to move to the apartments, please contact your Housing Coordinator.
- Students who wish to or need to remain in a residence hall facility will be relocated to College Nine, College Ten, Crown College or Merrill College.
- All students will be assigned to private rooms but charged at the triple room rate.
- Relocation assistance, including moving vans for distant travel, boxes, tape, labels, etc. will be provided.
Students who submit their Intent to Vacate and complete their move-out (i.e. remove all belongings and return any university keys) by April 19 will be eligible for a full refund of any housing and dining fees paid for spring quarter. Anyone who is still in residence after this date should plan to be reassigned to a new residential location.
As a reminder, the county health directive instructs that public and private gatherings outside of an immediate household are prohibited. An immediate household is not all residents who may reside in a building together, in a community together or even in close proximity. Your immediate household is defined as your private bedroom. We are intentionally assigning students to single occupancy rooms in order to safely practice physical distancing. Guests will not be permitted to visit within a student’s residence.
Because it will take a bit of time for all residences to be vacated and prepared for new occupancy, we are uncertain of the exact date/time of your move. You will receive, in advance of any move, specific instructions related to your relocation.
It is not our intention to add undue burden or stress on any of our students, and hope that you understand why these changes are necessary. Should you be experiencing any distress, support is available for you from CAPS, College Student Life staff, or Slug Support.
Sincerely,
Student Housing Services
