UC Merced considering delaying in-person instruction to address student housing shortage
The University of California, Merced, is seeking approval to delay the start of in-person instruction after learning that about 1,000 of its students are still looking for local housing.
The start of the fall semester is still scheduled for Aug. 25, but the university is considering delaying in-person instruction until Aug. 30.
According to a campuswide email update issued Thursday, “providing the additional days before in-person instruction begins will allow more time to resolve the housing situation.”
An update sent out to students, faculty and staff on Sunday reads in part, “After working with state officials and others, we are now permitted to open substantially more campus residency opportunities for undergraduate students. We believe we can accommodate on campus the great majority of students who have been affected by recent disruptions to their housing plans.
“Martin Reed, the assistant vice chancellor for residence education and campus life, and his staff will begin contacting students Monday morning to offer campus residency, starting with those who had earlier applied to reside on campus.”
In a virtual town hall held Thursday evening, university officials said that because students affected by the housing shortage are enrolled in most of UC Merced’s courses, the university isn’t able to make a hybrid instruction plan available for the fall semester, so a delayed in-person start date was proposed instead.
Many of those now looking for housing were set to move into the Merced Station apartments, located close to campus and intended for student use. However, construction delays have pushed back the apartment’s opening, leaving hundreds without housing. Over 500 students with leases at Merced Station will be provided with beds at local hotels until they are able to move into their apartments, according to the email.
The university expects Merced Station to open in mid- to late September.
Merced Station and university officials were not available to comment.
Delays just part of problem
In addition to those students affected by the Merced Station construction delays, UC Merced has identified around 500 other students who are still looking for housing for a variety of reasons.
The university is working to add beds to its on-campus housing, pending fire marshal approval, in dorms that were designed for triple occupancy but are currently set up as double rooms, according to the email. Additionally, a small number of first-year students will be able to participate in a “Virtual First Year Program,” where they will complete their fall semester online.
UC Merced has also reserved 120 beds in local hotels — with an additional 240 beds pending — “to provide more housing should the above options be insufficient for our fall student needs.”
Veronica Medrano’s son will be a sophomore this fall. The family lives in Richmond. He applied for on-campus housing, but five weeks ago, the university informed him that he didn’t have an assigned room. Since then, Medrano has been looking for apartments or rooms off-campus, without much luck. And communication from the university has been scarce.
“I went into the year thinking we’re good, he has housing,” she said. “Then all of a sudden, he’s like, ‘Mom, I just got a email from the school that I didn’t get into the dorms.’”
Medrano was under the impression that her son would be guaranteed housing, but now, with the school year fast approaching, she doesn’t even know if her son is on the waitlist for the dorms.
Some may have to commute
During Thursday’s town hall, Charles Nies, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said the university is also looking at “other ways that we might be able to free up some space or help support students who are looking for accommodations, but might be within commuting distance.”
Despite the frustration, Medrano said she understands the university’s “hands were tied” when it came to the housing situation, with many factors outside its control.
“They should have alerted us long before,” she said. “The more time we could have had, the better it would have been. ... I don’t think there was very much more that could have been done.”
University officials expect a final decision about the in-person start date to be announced Monday, Aug. 16.
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This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
