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Merced University Has Room for More: Low Enrollment Offers Valley Students an Unusual Opportunity, Officials Say.

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Denny Boyles, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Jun. 19--Low registration numbers at the University of California at Merced could give San Joaquin Valley students unusually good access to the state's top public university system.

Before the first classes began last year, UC officials predicted that the number of students on campus at Merced would double in the second year from 800 to 1,600. Earlier this year officials thought those predictions would hold up after more than 6,000 acceptance letters were mailed.

It turns out, though, that the predictions were based less on reality and more on history. The reality is that by June 7 only 456 new freshmen had announced intentions to start classes at Merced this fall, and they will be joined by just 57 transfer students.

"The problem is that those predictions were made before the work on the campus even started," said Jane Lawrence, vice chancellor for student affairs at UC Merced. "Those numbers weren't based on reality so much as what happened on new campuses 40 years ago."

Forty years ago the last new UC campuses opened in Santa Cruz and Irvine. Because UC Irvine is in a larger metropolitan area and opened with more than 1,600 students, officials tend to compare UC Merced with Santa Cruz.

UC Santa Cruz averaged 637 students per semester its first year, and has seen gradual enrollment increases of about 600 students most years since that time.

Patti Waid Istas, communications director for UC Merced, said that despite the decrease this year, UC Merced still is expected to grow by an average of 800 students each year.

"Last year we had 9,000 applicants, and we had the same number this year," Istas said. "The difference was that last year several UC campus underenrolled and did not meet their registration targets. This year, those campuses overenrolled by as much as 1,000 students. That drew away students who might otherwise have registered at Merced."

Those lower-than-predicted numbers of new students have left more than 200 open spots, many of which could be filled by Valley students who may not have applied at the campus.

Putting more Valley students in college was one of the main reasons Merced was chosen as the site for a UC campus. Continued growth in student enrollments also had leaders worried that the nine-campus UC system would become crowded if an additional campus wasn't built.

Encarnacion Ruiz, director of undergraduate admissions at UC Merced, said that growth is taking place, it will just take time for his campus to reach its full potential.

Ruiz said the campus already is meeting its goal of increasing opportunities for local students. He said Valley residents already make up the majority of students on campus, and he would like to see even more choose Merced.

"There are definitely still opportunities for students to apply to start classes here in the fall," he said. "We've extended our deadline to June 23, and we will do a quick turnaround so that students who apply can get answers on both their application and their financial aid packages."

Ruiz said that the extra seats at his campus are the result of a "buyer's market" for incoming freshmen.

"There were a lot of opportunities for students statewide this year," Ruiz said. "A lot of students probably expected to end up here because they didn't expect to get in at another UC campus."

This year nearly 39,000 students sent intent-to-register letters to University of California campuses, a jump of more than 5,000 from the fall semester of 2005. Merced was the only UC campus not to see an increase.

Statewide, only Merced and UC Riverside still are accepting applications. Riverside is only accepting transfer students from community colleges. Merced is still taking applications from all students.

Ruiz also has met with officials from local community colleges, including Fresno City College. Robert Fox, dean of students at the college, said he and his staff are working to let students know about the opportunities at UC Merced.

"We will let students eligible to transfer know by both mail and e-mail, and we will have information on campus for those with questions about transferring to the UC," Fox said. "We see this as a fine opportunity for us to work with the UC and help students make the transition from the community college to the university."

Lawrence believes those efforts will help add more students for this year. She said she isn't concerned that the drop signaled a trend of declining enrollment for the campus.

"We do believe that as our academic offerings grow, and as our student life opportunities improve, UC Merced will attract more students," Lawrence said.

Student life, which can mean everything from recreational activities on campus to entertainment venues off-campus, is an obvious hurdle at Merced, where construction of recreational facilities, classrooms and laboratories continues.

But there has been progress on the nonacademic front as well.

A new student recreation center is nearly complete, and the number of student-organized clubs and associations grows almost daily.

Josh Franco, UC Merced's first student body president, said the campus has a lot to offer, and a lot of challenges.

"There are a lot of little things that can affect perceptions, things such as parking, food and the dorms," Franco said. "It's not surprising that those issues exist on a new campus, but they could be enough to keep someone from choosing to come here."

Caitlyn Kennedy, who will be a sophomore in the fall, said she chose to attend UC Merced in the eighth grade, when UC officials visited her junior high. She agreed that parking, food and dorm life are problems, but they are things she believes will improve as the campus grows.

"I think the bigger problem right now is the lack of majors here," Kennedy said. "That's a huge issue for students. I want to major in communications, which isn't offered yet. I'm taking it on faith that it will be offered soon."

The difference in academic offerings at Merced and other UC campuses is striking.

Merced, in its second year, will offer 14 majors from three schools -- engineering, natural sciences and social sciences, humanities and arts.

UC Santa Cruz, which opened in 1965, offers 61 majors.

Ruiz and Lawrence both say they are aware that academic offerings are a problem, and both acknowledged that life on campus right now may not be ideal for young students.

Ruiz, though, said he hopes potential students will look past the surface problems and see the hidden values of the smaller campus.

"This campus is still small enough that students can get a lot of personal attention from their professors," Ruiz said. "That's something that will be amazing for the students."

Ruiz said that what he doesn't want is for UC Merced to be similar to local national parks, which receive a lot of visitors from out of the area, but which local residents take for granted.

"When you go to the national parks you see people from everywhere but the Valley," Ruiz said. "I don't want that to be the case here as well. Here, right now, there is a chance for several hundred Valley students to apply and be accepted to a University of California campus that has room for them. That's amazing."

The reporter can be reached at dboyles@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6659.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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