Classes begin next Monday, Aug. 29, but many students are already on campus for Welcome Week, which began Monday. More than 100 departments are offering at least 200 workshops, orientations, tours and receptions to help students make the transition to campus life.
UC Berkeley expects to have 33,050 students enrolled this fall, including 4,030 entering freshman, 1,981 new transfer students and 2,750 new graduate students.
"This is the first entering class that I have the privilege of welcoming to Berkeley. They've come right from high school ready to engage, they're comfortable in speaking with me and quick to ask substantive questions. I am terrifically impressed with their enthusiasm and with their positive outlook," said Chancellor Robert Birgeneau.
Also new this year is a task force, appointed by Chancellor Birgeneau, which aims to improve student-neighbor relations in the neighborhoods closest to campus. The task force of students, campus and city officials, police and nearby residents is using a personal approach with social interaction as its aim to make neighborhoods near UC Berkeley welcoming and enjoyable for all. (A press release on the task force is available at http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/.)
Student housing on campus has greatly expanded since last fall, with 850 beds in four new residence halls added since January. With the additional space, UC Berkeley now offers a two-year housing guarantee to all entering freshmen.
Also new is a faculty residence program, in which a professor lives and works in one of the residence halls; new courses about everything from the Manhattan Project to the meaning of life to designing products for people with autism; expanded hours and services at the student health center; and Cal Prep, a new K-12 charter school in Oakland being run by UC Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools. (For more information, see the Story Tips section at the end of this release).
MEET THE INCOMING STUDENTS
Campus officials estimate that about 23,150 new and continuing undergraduates will register this fall, along with 9,900 new and continuing graduate students. Final registration numbers will be available later in the semester.
New freshmen
An estimated 4,030 freshmen are expected to register this fall, about 350 more than last year. UC Berkeley is able to admit and enroll more students because budget cuts imposed in 2004-05 were partially restored for 2005-06.
The ethnic breakdown for the class of new freshmen is projected to be approximately 47 percent Asian American, 31 percent white, 11 percent Chicano/Latino, 7 percent who declined to state their ethnicity, 3 percent African American, 1 percent "other," and 0.4 percent American Indian.
Estimates show that women will represent 55 percent of the freshman class, the same as last fall.
By several measures, the new freshman class is academically outstanding. Compared with the fall 2004 freshman class, these freshmen scored at or higher on standardized tests, in grade point averages and in the number of honors courses taken.
Overall, 88 percent of the new freshmen come from public high schools. Twenty-nine percent are first-generation college students. The percentage of underrepresented minority students who are entering freshmen will be 14 percent of the class, up from 13 percent last year.
Geographically, approximately 36 percent of the California freshmen are from the San Francisco Bay Area, 15 percent from other Northern California areas, 27 percent from Los Angeles County and 23 percent from other Southern California areas.
New transfer students
The number of new transfer students, most of them from California community colleges, is estimated at 1,980, up by 245 from fall 2004. This increase is due to a modest, planned increase in transfer enrollment by the University of California system.
The new transfer group's ethnic breakdown is expected to be about 41 percent white, 32 percent Asian American, 12 percent Chicano/Latino, 9 percent who declined to state their ethnicity, 3.5 percent African American, 0.7 percent American Indian and 2 percent "other."
New graduate students
Campus officials are expecting approximately 2,750 new graduate students to enroll in fall 2005, compared to 2,735 last fall. Women are expected to comprise 49 percent of the new entering class, up 2 percent from last year.
These new students come from every state in the country except Montana. Fifty-two percent are from California, 31 percent from other parts of the United States and 17 percent from foreign countries.
Enrollment for new graduate students who are international students will be about 450 this fall, compared with 420 in fall 2004.
Rising student fees
Fees for undergraduate and graduate students went up again this year. Undergraduates who are California residents will pay $7,434 in fees this year. Overall, the estimated budget for two semesters for California undergraduates living in residence halls, including educational fees, mandatory health insurance fees, room and board, books and supplies, personal expenses and transportation is now estimated at $23,232, or $1,694 more than last year.
Following is a breakdown of student costs for fall '05 compared with a year ago:
2005
Fees : $7,434**
Room & board: $11,629
Food: $925*
Books & supplies: $1,266
Personal: $1,366
Transportation: $652
Total: $23,232
*Beyond that included in campus meal plan
**Includes $922 student health insurance
2004
Fees : $6,730**
Room & board: $10,744
Food: $886*
Books & supplies: $1,240
Personal: $1,298
Transportation: $640
Total: $21,538
*Beyond that included in campus meal plan
**Includes $774 student health insurance
Graduate students in most master's and Ph.D. programs will pay about 13 percent more in fees this year than last. California residents will pay $8,430 per year. Graduate students in the professional schools also face additional fees this year. The UC Board of Regents approved the new fees in July to offset the loss of $42 million in state funds for the professional schools. For example, law students who are California residents will pay $24,341 in fees; nonresidents will pay $36,586 a year. MBA students who are California residents this year will pay $24,325; nonresidents pay $35,856 a year.
MORE STUDENT HOUSING AVAILABLE
Two new residence halls are open this fall - Barbara Christian and William B. Slottman residence halls, accommodating 450 students. Earlier this year, Katherine A. Towle Residence Hall and the Yoritada Wada Apartments opened, adding 400 beds.
Over the last three years, the campus has added room for more than 1,100 students.
EXPANDED STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES
University Health Services has expanded services and hours as a result of UC Berkeley students voting for a new student health fee last spring. The additional money has allowed the health service to extend urgent care and pharmacy hours to 6 p.m., open the pharmacy on Saturdays and increase the number of counselors and clinicians so they can take more same-day appointments and expand counseling services. (For more information, see
http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/news/healthfeeservices.shtml)
TIEN CENTER, EAST ASIAN LIBRARY, UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Students will discover new construction in the Memorial Glade area, as the campus improves access for disabled students and prepares a site nearby for construction of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Several ongoing seismic retrofit projects are underway in campus buildings, including Le Conte Hall. And students will be able to enjoy the recently re-opened North Reading Room of Doe Library, which was closed last year for repairs and restoration.
But the Bancroft Library in the Doe Library Annex is closed this fall, as it undergoes a $64 million seismic retrofit and related improvements. Part of the collection is being temporarily housed at 2121 Allston Way, a block west of campus, and will be available in October.
STORY TIPS
1. Faculty Residence Program
UC Berkeley will kick off the initial year of its Faculty Residence Program in which a professor lives and works in a student residence hall. The first faculty member in residence is George Chang, associate professor of nutritional science and toxicology. In addition to meeting with students in the hallways and dining commons, Chang holds office hours and leads a tai chi class there on Sundays.
A press release on this program is available at http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/.
2. UC Berkeley helps open charter school in Oakland
Cal Prep, a new charter school that's a collaborative effort between UC Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools, opened Aug. 24. The Oakland public school initially has enrolled about 90 students in 6th and 7th grades. The early college academy is designed to improve students' preparation for college, provide a smoother transition between high school and college and boost educational equity.
A full press release on the school is available at http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/.
3. Public health students mobilize on Aug. 26
As part of Welcome Week, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health is teaming up with the Berkeley Mayor's office to co-host a Volunteer Mobilization Day on Friday, Aug. 26. Two hundred incoming public health students will take part in this first-ever effort coordinated between the School of Public Health and the city.
Organized teams of graduate student volunteers will be deployed to 13 pre-approved sites to perform community service activities including educational outreach to neighborhoods to prevent the spread of West Nile virus, working in community gardens and assisting at People's Park.
Contact: Michael Broder, School of Public Health, (510) 642-9572 or mbroder@berkeley.edu
4. Chancellor's Neighborhood Task Force
A new task force comprised of UC Berkeley students, campus neighbors, and city and campus officials is taking steps to make the neighborhoods near campus a more welcoming and peaceful place for both residents and students who live there. Recurring problems between long-time residents and students prompted the university to form the task force. Among the group's first achievements are a new brochure with "good neighbor" tips being distributed in neighborhoods near campus, appointing two student ambassadors to work in the neighborhoods, the long-time residents inviting student neighbors to join a crime watch group, and hosting a yard sale and barbeque. A full press release on this initiative is at http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/.
5. Interesting new courses
Several seminars this fall aim to demystify the UC Berkeley experience, or at least prepare students for college life:
"The Freshman Experience," tackles everything from "the roommate from hell" and gaining the "Freshman 15" to whether Chemistry 1A is really as terrifyingly difficult as everyone says. Contact: George Chang, associate professor of nutritional science and toxicology, (510) 642-0603 or gwchang@berkeley.edu.
"Getting to Know the UCB Faculty" helps students learn how to get to know the faculty, a key to success in college according to research. Contact: Christina Maslach, vice provost of undergraduate education and professor of psychology, at (510) 642-9594.
The Department of Physics is offering undergraduates a peek at the big picture with "How Things Work," which breaks down the nuts and bolts of how airplanes fly, how music is stored on a CD, how atomic bombs work and more. Contact: Professor Emeritus Leroy Kerth at (510) 486-6662 or ltkerth@lbl.gov.
Particularly relevant this fall -- just over 60 years after the United States detonated the first atomic bomb in Trinity, N.M. -- is a freshman seminar class on the history of the Manhattan Project.
"The Scientists of the Manhattan Project, their Contributions to President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace Initiative and their Lasting Legacy to Nuclear Power in the Twenty-first Century" shows students "what scientists and engineers can accomplish in a short amount of time," said Brian Wirth, assistant professor of nuclear engineering. "In just seven years, scientists moved from discovering nuclear fission to the development of a working device, and more impressively, the first nuclear reactors." Contact: Brian Wirth, (510) 642-5341 or bdwirth@nuc.berkeley.edu
Several new classes in the campus's Disabilities Studies program will help students critically examine the experiences of disabled people.
- "Autism, Culture and Design," asks students to design products for people with autism.
- "Disability Autobiography," explores whether autobiographies written by people with disabilities serve as agents for social change or reinforce the idea of disability as personal tragedy.
- "Children, Families and Disabilities," includes discussion of topics such as prenatal testing, selective abortion, disabled parents' rights and adaptive technologies for disabled people.
A full press release on these classes is available from Media Relations at http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/.
With examples right on campus, students can study the architectural influence of Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan and brothers Charles and Henry Greene in "Maybeck, Morgan, and Greene & Greene." Students will consider how the classic and Arts and Crafts aesthetics of these architects contributed to the UC Berkeley campus, the building tradition throughout the Bay Area, and the character of Pasadena's built environment. Contact Margaretta Lovell, professor of the history of art, at (510)642-0918 or mmlovell@berkeley.edu
For more information on freshman and sophomore seminars at UC Berkeley this fall, see http://fss.berkeley.edu/index.html.