Save Family Student Housing at UCSC

Save Family Student Housing at UCSC

The Issue

UCSC Campus Provost Alison Galloway is proceeding rapidly with a plan that will effectively end the 47-year tradition of providing on-campus housing to UCSC students struggling to support a family while in school. UCSC will be the first UC to do this.

Dr. Galloway announced at a meeting 3/28 that she is giving the go-ahead to Student Housing Services to demolish Family Student Housing and build a newer, more expensive complex in its place. Dr. Galloway acknowledged with a shrug and a nod that the new units will be too expensive for most student families to afford to live in, and she confirmed that she was authorizing Housing to rent the newer units to non-families instead.

Dr. Galloway and UCSC Housing will claim they intend to continue to provide Family Student Housing, but since student families cannot afford the rents that non-families can afford, this will effectively price out all but a few student families. Housing may keep the name ‘Family’ Student Housing, but there will be few if any families living there.

Dr. Galloway said that the move is necessary in order to provide housing for the increased enrollment that she is trying to recruit in order to bring in more money.

UPDATE: If Galloway's assistant Ken emails you back with his BS about how they are still going to offer family housing, please ask Dr. Galloway : "How many units will be set aside for student families (married, registered domestic partner, blood relation including children) in the new development?"  When she says, "Zero," ask her how a single mom with a toddler is supposed to pay as much as four college guys whose parents are still paying their bills. 

 

 

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This petition had 610 supporters

The Issue

UCSC Campus Provost Alison Galloway is proceeding rapidly with a plan that will effectively end the 47-year tradition of providing on-campus housing to UCSC students struggling to support a family while in school. UCSC will be the first UC to do this.

Dr. Galloway announced at a meeting 3/28 that she is giving the go-ahead to Student Housing Services to demolish Family Student Housing and build a newer, more expensive complex in its place. Dr. Galloway acknowledged with a shrug and a nod that the new units will be too expensive for most student families to afford to live in, and she confirmed that she was authorizing Housing to rent the newer units to non-families instead.

Dr. Galloway and UCSC Housing will claim they intend to continue to provide Family Student Housing, but since student families cannot afford the rents that non-families can afford, this will effectively price out all but a few student families. Housing may keep the name ‘Family’ Student Housing, but there will be few if any families living there.

Dr. Galloway said that the move is necessary in order to provide housing for the increased enrollment that she is trying to recruit in order to bring in more money.

UPDATE: If Galloway's assistant Ken emails you back with his BS about how they are still going to offer family housing, please ask Dr. Galloway : "How many units will be set aside for student families (married, registered domestic partner, blood relation including children) in the new development?"  When she says, "Zero," ask her how a single mom with a toddler is supposed to pay as much as four college guys whose parents are still paying their bills. 

 

 

avatar of the starter
O CPetition Starter
Media inquiries

The Decision Makers

Alison Galloway
Alison Galloway
UCSC Campus Provost
Responded
“Thank you for your email concerning Family Student Housing (FSH). FSH is a vital part of our campus infrastructure, and UCSC's commitment to housing families and couples is unwavering. I am fully aware that students often come here with family obligations that require suitable housing, and I anticipate that this will continue. Our goal is to do exactly as you describe: Provide an adequate base of housing at as an affordable a rate as possible. However, our current FSH units are nearing the end of their structural life. When that happens, it is best to replace the units with energy efficiency, accessibility, community spaces, and the needs of today’s families in mind. The campus is in the very early stages of developing a long-term plan for FSH. As always, funding the cost of new housing is part of our campuswide housing program. When we built apartments (for example, at Cowell, Stevenson, and Porter Colleges several years ago), the students who moved in did not foot the bill for these new buildings by themselves – the cost was distributed and shared. Keeping future rate increases as low as possible will be a top priority as we discuss the renewal of housing for student families. While some might argue that we try to extend the existence of current FSH through remodeling and renovation, at some point the investment in repairs exceeds the value of the units. Although we have to address this situation, we have no intention of eliminating or even reducing housing for families. ”

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Petition created on April 2, 2012