September 6, 2005

UCSD Welcomes Record Number Of Students
As Fall Quarter Begins Monday, September 19

By Pat JaCoby

A record 26,140 students are scheduled to begin the fall quarter at the University of California, San Diego, with “welcome week” activities underway Sept. 19 and the start of classroom instruction slated Sept. 22. Among enhancements the newcomers and returnees will find are several newly completed buildings, a monumental Stuart Collection “Bear,” and a new student-based powerful Web portal.

The preliminary enrollment figure of 26,140, to be finalized in October, shows an expected growth of 860 students over last fall’s enrollment of 25,280.

This year’s total includes an estimated 3,800 freshmen and 1,700 new transfer students, 3,600 graduate students, 1,380 School of Medicine students, and 180 in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Services.

The academic credentials of the entering freshman class remain strong, with an average high school GPA of 3.93 and a SAT 1 score above 1,251, according to Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor, Admissions and Enrollment Services. The new transfer students are entering UCSD with an average college GPA of 3.32.

Approximately 1,700 international students are projected to enroll at UCSD this fall, while a total 1,145 UCSD students will study abroad in 2005-06. Of the latter, 585 will be overseas on the UC Education Abroad Program and 560 in UCSD’s Opportunities Abroad Program. “The world situation is not deterring students from going abroad,” noted Mary Dhooge, director of the UCSD International Center, “as participation in overseas programs continues to increase.”

Meanwhile, the Rady School of Management will launch its Full-Time program on Sept. 9 with a diverse group of 60 students—33 percent are international, 35 percent are female and 28 percent already hold graduate degrees. The new two-year program provides fundamentals of global business with a curriculum focused on management principles for organizations driven by science, technology and innovation.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, who marked the anniversary of her first year at UCSD on Aug. 16, will greet students at several events Sept. 19, including the 11 .am. Triton “Power Hour” for new students in RIMAC Arena, and at noon on Ridge Walk, where she will pass out cookies during the Welcome Week Student Services Fair.

Students also will be greeted this quarter by two familiar faculty figures who are assuming new administrative roles: Michael Bernstein, history professor, who has been named dean of Arts and Humanities, and Susan Smith, visual arts associate professor, who has been appointed the new provost of John Muir College.

Newly completed campus construction projects are led by the $41.2 million Computer Science and Engineering Building (EBU 3B), which will be dedicated in a formal ceremony at 5 p.m. Sept. 30. The facility provides 87,000 square feet of class laboratories, research laboratories and offices, and will house the Computer Science and Engineering Department as well as the Warren College Provost and Writing Program.

Also completed for fall occupancy is the $102.5 million Calit2 Building which provides 127,000 square feet of research laboratories, offices and collaborative spaces for faculty, students and staff from the Jacobs School of Engineering, the Graduate School of International Relations/Pacific studies, and the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Music and Physics. The facility is located within the Warren College neighborhood, adjacent to the new Computer Science and Engineering Building.

Located in the Health Sciences neighborhood south of the Basic Sciences Building is the new $45.4 million Pharmaceutical Sciences Building which provides 63,000 square feet of classroom, offices and research laboratory space for the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Services.

While these structures marked completion, the beeping of construction vehicles and pounding of crews can be heard throughout the campus on a number of other projects now underway, including the $35 million Student Academic Services Facility in University Center, and expansions of the Student Health Center, Canyon View Aquatic Center and Eucalyptus Grove Student Center.

Meanwhile, groundbreaking is scheduled at 10 a.m. Sept. 26 for the long-awaited East Campus Graduate Housing project, which will provide 806 beds for graduate students. The $78 million project, sited adjacent to the Mesa Graduate Housing complex, is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2007 and marks the first new graduate housing in 12 years.

As for campus housing this quarter, Mark Cunningham, director of Housing and Dining Services, notes that a total 9,354 students, faculty and staff will be accommodated. This includes housing for 6,731 single undergraduates, 1,515 graduate/medical students, 270 faculty, and 87 staff plus 751 dependents. A total 94 percent of all freshmen will be housed on campus.

Another new entity greeting students this quarter is “Bear, the 16th addition to the Stuart Collection of outdoor art work on the campus. The “Bear” will be “introduced” to guests at the Sept. 30 Computer Science and Engineering Building dedication and later celebrated in a public ceremony sponsored by the Stuart Collection this fall. “Bear,” located in the Academic Courtyard of UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering, is 20-plus foot tall and weighs in at more than 310,000 pounds. The sculpture is the work of artist Tim Hawkinson and is built of eight uncarved granite boulders.

On the electronic front, students will be introduced to “TritonLink,” a new online system that integrates StudentLink tools and other campus resources into one powerful Web portal. It includes news, deadlines and other timely announcements as well as links to colleges, academic departments and Student Affairs organizations.

And WiFi, the UCSD high-speed wireless data network available at many venues on campus, has been expanded to a number of other locations, according to Elazar Harel, assistant vice chancellor, Administrative Computing and Telecommunications.

Media contact: Pat JaCoby, (858) 534-7404