Newswise — As the University of California, San Diego turns 50, the campus will welcome an estimated 3,950 incoming freshmen and record 2,600 transfer students for the first day of classes, Thursday, Sept. 23. UC San Diego’s 29,000 students, including this year’s new class, can look forward to several new campus programs, resources and facilities that will help them save money, reduce their carbon footprint and live a healthier lifestyle.
These include a new textbook rental program, one-stop-shop for wellness and Farm2U, a program that connects students with local farmers.
The campus reports that nearly 35 percent more transfer students are expected to attend UC San Diego, a record high for the university. Additionally, a record number of underrepresented new students will attend UC San Diego, up a significant 23 percent for both freshmen and transfer students, compared to last year. The freshmen bring with them an average high school GPA of 3.98 and SAT reasoning test scores of 600 or higher on the three exams. The new transfer students entering UC San Diego have an average college GPA of 3.42.
“It’s especially exciting to welcome such an impressive new student body to celebrate the university’s remarkable achievements during our anniversary year,” says Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. “We’re proud of all the actions we’ve taken to improve our campus climate. UC San Diego continues to enhance our efforts to recruit well-qualified and diverse students and ensure access to UC San Diego’s world-class educational opportunities as we look forward to achieving the extraordinary in the next 50 years.”
In addition to participating in 50th Anniversary activities, incoming students can take advantage of new programs and resources that offer UC San Diego students cost effective ways to go green and live well to ensure a successful college experience, such as:
* Getting into “The Zone” –– a one-stop-shop for wellness: For the first time, students can spend time in the campus’ new LEED-certified wellness hub, The Zone, where they can meet their emotional, social, physical, intellectual, spiritual, financial, occupational, environmental and fitness needs. The Zone offers a sampling of UC San Diego’s wellness services in one space. Examples of programs include: “laughter yoga,” stress relief and relaxation workshops, personal safety, Tai-Chi, healthy cooking, meditation, therapy dogs, biofeedback, health checkups and nap-ins.
* Gourmet Grub –– new and improved menus: California plum quinoa salad, sweet potato burritos, vegan lentil stir-fry and locally grown produce are among the new food items at UC San Diego’s dining halls that will help students eat healthy, environmentally conscious meals at no additional cost. UC San Diego’s dining halls will continue to offer cage-free eggs, fair trade items and sponsor “Meatless Mondays” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Also new is “Farm2U”—a weekly event where local farmers present their fresh, seasonal produce and goods to campus residents. And starting this year, UC San Diego’s dining services will work with the City of San Diego on a new composting program.
* Green Commute Solutions—new program: Carpooling just got easier for students, staff and faculty. UC San Diego’s new Zimride program gives commuters access to tools that allow them to find UC San Diego friends, classmates and coworkers going the same route to campus. More than half of UC San Diego’s daily commuters are taking advantage of the campus’ various alternative transportation resources by pedaling bikes, riding shuttle buses or carpooling. To access the new program, go to: http://iRide.ucsd.edu.
* Save and Succeed—new textbook rental program: The UC San Diego Bookstore’s new textbook rental program, on average, saves students 60 percent off the price of new textbooks. The bookstore will utilize Microsoft’s high capacity color barcode technology which will allow students to use their smart phones, and bypass their computers, for instant access to the textbook rental website where they can find thousands of the most popular textbook titles for rent. For more information, go to: www-bookstore.ucsd.edu.
In addition to returning to exciting new programs and resources, UC San Diego students will find a campus with a new look. Housing projects underway, which will all be complete by July 2011, include 500 new apartment-style beds at Revelle College, 275 apartment-style beds at Muir College and the second phase of The Village transfer housing complex, featuring805 new apartment-style beds, restaurant and grocery store.
“With the completion of these projects, the campus will extend a three-year housing guarantee to all incoming freshmen starting in 2011-12—a first for UC San Diego,” said Mark Cunningham, director of housing and dining.
This fall, a total of 8,561 undergraduate students, 2,024 graduate students, 212 faculty and 111 staff will be housed on campus. This includes 452 graduate students who will live in UC San Diego’s new graduate student housing complex.
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