Nearly 600 fewer students are expected to register next week at the University of California, Davis, than did last fall. A student body of 22,715 is anticipated, down from last fall's 23,302 and fall l990's enrollment high of 23,898. Undergraduate enrollment is expected to decline by 507, but 577 more new freshmen and 343 more new transfer students than last fall likely will register. The reduced enrollments are the result of careful planning after several years of higher-than-desired enrollments and after continuing shortfalls in state funding. "Despite sorely inadequate resources and the continuing loss of faculty to early retirement, we will manage this year to honor our contract to new and continuing students to provide the courses they need to progress in a timely manner toward completion of their degrees," said Chancellor Theodore L. Hullar. "By concentrating our resources on high-demand, required courses, we have averted a daunting crisis this year but we've borrowed substantially against our future. We cannot continue to thin from our curriculum the courses of richness and depth that students deserve and expect to find at the University of California. We cannot much longer go on like this, cutting services to students to unacceptable levels, as the state budget cuts are forcing us to do." Here's a snapshot of what this fall's students will find when they arrive next week: • Course availability. Despite a 10.6 percent budget cut and the loss thus far of more than 5 percent of the faculty to early retirement, course offerings are expected to be down just 2 percent (or 75 primary lecture sessions from last fall's 3,462). Faculty have volunteered to teach an extra course, rearranged teaching schedules or, in some cases, canceled sabbaticals in an effort to ensure high-demand classes are offered. Several pilot sections of popular courses have been added through the use of instructional television. On average, 77.5 percent of undergraduates requesting 12 or more credits received them, compared to 77 percent last year and 73 percent the year before. Some 500 new students who received fewer than 12 credits are being called by staff and offered assistance in completing their schedules. Open course listings will be available in many campus buildings and broadcast on Davis Community Cable Channel 42. "I'm really impressed with and so deeply appreciative of the major, additional efforts above and beyond the call of duty that the faculty, academic staff and administrative staff have put forth to meet our obligations to our students," Hullar said. • Financial aid. Approximately $102 million (up from $97 million last year) in financial aid is expected to be awarded to some 11,000 students (8,500 last year), helping offset an 85 percent increase in fees over the past three years. Scholarship assistance has grown from $9.8 million in 1990-91 to $12.5 million; grants from $20.7 million to $25 million; loans from $25.2 million to $31.8 million. Work-study funding has declined from $1.7 million in 1990-91 to $1.3 million this year. Other forms of financial aid (for example, veterans' benefits) increased from $30.4 million in 1990-91 to $31.4 million. • Housing. The 800-bed Primero residence hall complex remains vacant this year, awaiting eventual replacement. The remaining undergraduate residence halls and student family housing are full, but off-campus housing is plentiful. The vacancy rate in the Davis community is estimated to be 9 percent, up from 4 percent in 1991 and 0.9 percent in 1990. • Classroom scheduling. To expand classroom space, courses again have been scheduled in the Main Theater and in Wyatt Pavilion. Fifteen classes will start at 7:30 a.m. (compared to 14 last year), and fewer evening sections are scheduled. • Building construction and renovation. The Academic Surge Building was completed this summer, providing space to launch new programs and allowing offices vacated by several of its new occupants to be converted into classrooms. The seismic upgrade of Sproul Hall was completed in late summer, permitting the return of humanities faculty to their offices. Renovation and expansion of Shields Library continues, with increased convenience for library users expected this year. Engineering Unit 2, providing undergraduate laboratory and graduate research facilities, is due to be completed in January. Ground will be broken in October for the Social Sciences and Humanities Building, which will include classrooms, computer teaching laboratories, offices, conference rooms and seven research and library/study rooms. The Memorial Union's lounge and meeting spaces have been expanded, patios to the south and east renovated, and a corridor connecting all wings of the MU completed. Renovation of the courtyard adjacent to Freeborn Hall, including new paving, lighting and landscaping, is due to be finished in April 1993. • Parking and transportation. The campus's parking system should be able to handle parking demand this year, according to transportation and parking manager Brodie Hamilton. An 830-space Quad District parking structure will come on line north of Hickey Gymnasium by mid-February, serving the MU complex, Hunt Hall, Hickey, Toomey Field and the soon-to-be-constructed Social Sciences and Humanities Building. When construction of the SS&H Building begins on lot 11 in October, displaced cars will be redirected to shuttle parking lots 30 and 54, remote lot 2B or to attendant-assisted parking in lots 10, 14, 15 and 23 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. An alternative transportation program continues to successfully encourage the use of bicycles, transit shuttles and car- and vanpooling. The campus's Transitpool program has increased to 40 percent its monthly transit pass subsidy to riders, and UNITRANS bus passes are now included in the subsidy program along with Yolobus, Regional Transit and CityLink. More than 1,000 improved-security bike racks have been installed on campus and chain links have been added to more than 1,000 bike pods. The campus, along with the City of Davis and the Davis Area Chamber of Commerce, will sponsor "Cyclebration" Oct. 10-17. Expected to be an annual event, Cyclebration "will promote the safe, practical and fun use of bicycles for transportation, recreation and fitness," Hamilton says. "In sum, we've taken extraordinary measures this year to meet our obligations to our students," said Hullar. "But, to do so, we've had to borrow heavily from other functions. We cannot continue to do this without causing a permanent loss of quality. Thus, if there is not additional state funding in the years ahead, we will have no choice but to cut students, programs and services."