Enrollments are continuing to grow at the University of California, Davis, with as many as 185 more students expected to register next week than registered last fall. When classes begin Oct. 1, a student body of 24,484 is anticipated, up from last fall's 24,299. The recent campus enrollment growth started four years ago. UC Davis enrollments are expected to grow to 26,850 by the year 2005-06 to accommodate increased demand. Total undergraduate enrollment is expected to rise by 177 this fall, mostly due to a larger number of continuing students. About 3,620 new freshmen likely will register next week, 58 more than last fall; the number of new advanced standing students likely will decrease by 94. Upper-division students will continue to make up 60 percent of the undergraduate student body this year. New graduate students are expected to increase their ranks by 6. Health science enrollments should increase by 2. More than 14.6 percent of the admitted freshman class are students from underrepresented ethnic groups, compared to 16.3 percent last year. About one-half of all new transfer students will have participated in the Transfer Admission Agreement program with 55 community colleges throughout the state. Here's a snapshot of what this fall's students will find as they arrive next week: • Course availability. Students this fall will be able to find a variety of open course sections and classroom seats. Currently, about 600 sections with some 12,000 seats are available within the high-demand College of Letters and Science -- about the same circumstance as last fall. "This is clearly a testament to the excellent work that faculty and staff have done in monitoring their enrollments and in striving to match course offerings to student demand," said Fred Wood, associate dean of the College of Letters and Science. Openings exist in many popular introductory courses such as general chemistry, and the waiting lists are relatively small in such high-demand courses as calculus and organic chemistry. Courses in the social sciences continue to be very popular. Many introductory and advanced courses are full, but students will find openings in a limited number of sections and courses. English composition courses are again full this fall, but students should be able to find seats winter quarter. Wait lists are relatively long for introductory language courses in Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. But students will find many openings in introductory courses in French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latin and Russian. As in the past, students may request "simultaneous enrollment" to enroll in a course at another college when its equivalent at UC Davis is full. For example, students electing to study Spanish might choose to enroll in a comparable course at Sacramento City College until the more advanced course is available at UC Davis. Most students (as of Sept. 18) were able to enroll in a full load of 12 or more units: 88 percent of freshmen; 86 percent of sophomores; 84 percent of juniors; and 78 percent of seniors. • Finish in Four. This past year, 198 students participated in this program designed to help undergraduates complete their degrees in four years. The program's thrust is to encourage more students to take advantage of academic advisers on campus. Faculty and staff advisers explain which courses are required, in what sequence, for completion of majors and for graduation. The graduation rates of students who enter the University of California as first-year students remain high. The percentage of students taking more than 12 academic quarters to graduate has not increased in the last two years. Currently the average time to degree at UC Davis is slightly more than 13 quarters. • Financial aid. Held steady since 1994, UC systemwide fees will drop 5 percent this year for California resident undergraduates. UC Davis in-state undergrads will pay $4,153 this school year. An estimated 55 percent to 65 percent of the student body is expected to be provided some form of financial aid. So far, $28 million (more than 40 percent in the form of loans) has been disbursed to 12,771 students for this fall. The average indebtedness of a new bachelor's degree graduate totals about $12,000-$15,000. Housing. Housing is expected to be tight again this fall, both on the campus and within the city. Undergraduate residence halls and apartments for students with children are expected to be full when classes begin next week, and a city apartment vacancy rate of just 0.5 percent is projected. Primero Grove, a new 180-unit complex that will house 300 students in one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, is expected to be ready for occupancy when students arrive this weekend. The complex will provide campus housing for students displaced by the current renovations of Webster and Emerson halls. Beginning in fall 2000, Primero Grove, which is privately owned, will be available for leasing to graduate and upper-division students. The UC Board of Regents recently approved an additional housing project along LaRue Road, expected to be ready for occupancy in fall 2000. Residence hall students will find two new housing programs this fall -- a hall set aside for Davis Honors Challenge students and an Asian Pacific Theme House. A new late-night, fourth meal in the dining commons will be offered, in response to requests from students with evening classes, late work shifts and athletic practices. • Building construction and renovation. The Memorial Union seismic tower project is running a bit behind schedule, with a slated move-in date of late October/early November. Initially planned to be finished last June, the $6 million project, funded by a seismic fee paid by students, ran late due to heavy rains this past spring and more structural problems than anticipated. The construction project added stiffening elements to the south side of the MU, installed a new elevator to the north entry and updated all the rest rooms to make them accessible by wheelchair. A student computer lounge will be located in what was formerly the building's East Conference Room. The 60,000-square-foot building will house student government offices and related student services. A new East Hall is under construction on the site of the original building demolished in 1974. Expected to be completed in late March of 1999 at a cost of $7.8 million, the building will look similar to North and South Halls. With 45,000 square feet, East Hall will accommodate Student Aid Accounting, Cashier's Office, Financial Aid, Student Judicial Affairs, Outreach Services and the Learning Skills Center. The construction is being financed through a combination of student registration fees and campus funding. Construction is nearly complete on the Environmental Services Facility, which should be ready for use by late December/early January. The state-of-the-art building will replace the existing hazardous waste handling facility. A state revenue bond financed this $11 million project. • Parking and transportation. This year, the campus's parking system, entirely funded by user fees, should again be able to handle parking demand. And campus commuters who choose not to drive alone to work will particularly benefit from improved services and facilities, according to transportation and parking services director Brodie Hamilton. A new Lot 44 with 143 spaces has been completed, replacing the old lot that will be displaced this fall by the Walker Hall replacement building. Lot 31, located adjacent to the California Regional Primate Research Center, has been expanded by 155 spaces to accommodate new facilities constructed for the Center for Comparative Medicine. To accommodate peak winter demand, attendants will again be available to coordinate a "stack" parking program, parking cars in aisles of already-full lots to expand lot capacity. Several roads and bike paths have been resurfaced, creating a smoother and safer ride. Signal improvements at the intersections of LaRue Road and Orchard Park Drive and LaRue Road and Hutchison Drive will improve traffic flow. The annual Transportation Fair will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Silo Union Courtyard, with "plenty of fun, food and prizes," Hamilton says. Participants will learn about carpool, vanpool, transit and bike commute options, as well as air quality and traffic congestion. The "Spare the Air" campaign continues through October. Employees can win cash awards for each day they don't drive alone to campus. RideShare Week is Oct. 5-9, and local sponsors are providing a variety of prizes (including a trip to Tahiti) to commuters using alternative transportation this week. The bike path traversing the west and south boundaries of Aggie Village will be completed this winter, connecting the campus with First Street and Aggie Village commercial property. Additional high-security bike racks have been installed, replacing older-style racks and pods and providing more than 400 new bike parking spaces. Bicycles at bargain prices will be available at the campus's biannual bike auction, held Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. behind the Fire/Police Building on Kleiber Hall Drive. Bikes can be previewed at 8 a.m. Small-plane pilots can now fuel their planes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to new self-service facilities at the University Airport off Hopkins Road.