Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
VIE W FROM THE ACADEME MARCH/APRIL 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 78 ADDING BEDS The University of California at Irvine is adding beds to its massive Mesa Court Community. Helping manage and develop that area is Tim Guesman. Interview by Randall Shearin T The University of California at Irvine (UCI) is celebrating its 50th year in 2015. While it is a relatively young institution, it has been a leader in student housing. The university has built some of its own student housing, but also leased land to American Campus Communities to build pur- pose-built student housing projects on campus. UCI is under construction with a large renova- tion and expansion of its Mesa Court community, which was the frst student housing built on cam- pus. Mesa Court contains nearly 2,000 beds in 29 residence halls. SHB recently caught up with Tim Guesman, associate director of operations for student housing at Mesa Court, to fnd out more about this large-scale project, and how UCI handles housing in general. SHB: What is the history of UCI? Guesman: We are celebrating our 50th anni- versary this year. In 1957, the UC regents decided to expand the University of California system to Orange County. In 1965, President Johnson dedicated our campus here. At that time, we opened with some academic divisions in biological sciences, engineer- ing, fne arts, humanities, physical sciences and social sciences. We kept growing from there. In 1966, UCI acquired the California College of Medicine, which became UCI's school of medicine. In 1976, the university purchased the Orange County Medical Center and the Community Clinic of Orange County. Through that, we formed the UCI Medical Center; that is located in the city of Orange, about 12 miles from the main campus in Irvine. In June 2014, President Barack Obama addressed our graduates at the commence- ment ceremony at Angels Stadium to kick off our 50th year. SHB: How has enrollment evolved? Guesman: With our continued growth over the last 10 years, the UC regents have added a school of law and a school of education to the campus. At our campus, we have nearly 24,000 undergraduates and about 6,000 graduate stu- dents. Close to 60 percent of our freshmen are the frst in their families to enroll in college. That is quite an achievement. For fall 2015, UCI has received more than 80,000 applica- tions for incoming freshmen and trans- fer students. SHB: What is the demographic make up of your student body? Guesman: The vast majority of students are from California. The last few years, we have reached out to international and out-of-state students. Many of our California students are from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. SHB: How has UCI developed its residential life program over the years? Guesman: We feel that we serve as a gateway to success for undergraduate and graduate students as they enter UCI and advance their educational careers here. Student housing pro- vides a variety of learning center residential communities that we believe are safe, secure, well maintained and affordable. We pro- mote the academic success and individual's development through educational opportuni- ties and support services. The UCI Student Affairs division developed four domains that we apply: civic and community engagement; leadership development; diversity and global consciousness; and administrative/profes- sional skills and personal responsibility. We try to provide our staff with all the necessary resources, building partnerships throughout the campuses. SHB: Do you require students to live on campus? Guesman: We do not have a requirement, but we do guarantee housing for frst and second year students. We house between 42 to 45 per- cent of the student population. Our strategic TIM GUESMAN Associate Director of Operations for Student Housing Mesa Court UC Irvine is expanding Mesa Court, the university's oldest and largest housing area, by adding a mid-rise building with 750 beds.