University of California, Irvine - Student Life - Residential Accommodations

Residential Accommodations

UC Irvine has a number of residential options for students interested in living on campus. Approximately 36% of UCI students are housed in university accommodations; 3,300 live in freshmen residential dormitories, approximately 4,000 other undergraduates live in apartment/theme community housing, and 1,542 living units are available for graduate students and their families. Part of UCI's long-range development plan involves expanding on-campus housing to accommodate 50% of all UCI students.

The on-campus housing communities for undergraduates are: Mesa Court, Middle Earth, Campus Village, Arroyo Vista, Vista Del Campo, and VDC Norte. Graduate students are able to live on campus in Palo Verde, Verano Place, Vista Del Campo, and VDC Norte.

As of Fall 2010, UCI’s on-campus housing will expand to include two new properties managed by American Campus Communities (the same management that operates Vista del Campo and VDC Norte). These new properties include Camino del Sol and Puerta del Sol. Camino del Sol is solely for undergraduate students, while Puerta del Sol can accommodate undergraduate and graduate students.

Mesa Court is a housing community for freshmen. Mesa Court was the first housing community at UCI, has many trees and plants, a volleyball court and 2 basketball courts. Students living in Mesa Court have a mandatory meal plan, and can eat at the Mesa Commons. Mesa Court also has a community center, a recreational center, and the Mesa Academic Center(MAC). The housing community is crossing the bridge from the Arts to Humanities, or crossing the street towards the Student Center.

The Middle Earth housing community is home to about 1,700 students. The community comprises 24 halls, two dining facilities (Brandywine and Pippin Commons), a student center, and several resource centers. The name of each building is named after J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Middle Earth was built in three phases. The first phase was built in 1974 with the opening of seven halls: Hobbiton, Isengard, Lorien, Mirkwood, Misty Mountain, Rivendell, and The Shire, along with a separate Head Resident's manufactured home called "Bag End". The second phase was built in 1989 with thirteen more halls: Balin, Harrowdale, Whispering Wood, Woodhall, Calmindon, Grey Havens, Aldor, Rohan, Gondolin, Snowbourn, Elrond, Shadowfax, and Quenya. And finally, the third phase was built in 2000 with four halls: Crickhollow, Evenstar, Oakenshield, and Valimar. Each hall houses about fifty to eighty students. The hall Quenya was built with sixty single suite rooms and mainly houses graduate students. The hall Rivendell was originally opened as a co-ed, Social Science student dorm. Special, for credit, Social Science courses ("Self and Community" and "Search for Community") were held in Rivendell. Later, Rivendell became a single gender suite for women; however, in Fall 2009, the hall has again become coed and the all-women's hall has been moved to Oakenshield hall.

There are 42 houses located in Arroyo Vista and in use. There are 9 sorority and 5 fraternity houses that are located in Arroyo Vista. The sorority houses are Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Sigma Kappa, and Kappa Alpha Theta. The fraternities in Arroyo Vista are Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Some of the themed houses include the Rosa Parks House, Casa Caesar Chavez, International Peace and Conflict Studies, and International Village. Arroyo Vista also has many academic themed houses such as Campuswide Honors Program, Engineering, Information and Computer Science, Humanities, and Social Ecology, and has two Second Year Experience Program houses. In 2010, Arroyo Vista opened three new theme houses: Spectrum, Culinary, and Sustainability House.

Before the 2009–2010 school year, Arroyo Vista housed first, second, third, fourth, and fifth-year undergraduates all in the same community. Beginning Fall 2009, however, Arroyo Vista does not house first years. Students living in Arroyo Vista live in complexes that may be called houses, but have dorm-like qualities. Within each house, Arroyo Vista provides a kitchen area, laundry room, and a general living room. For instance, there are House Assistants (HA) present, who serve as the role as Resident Advisors (RA) and the rooms are all doubles. AV does not provide a meal plan within their housing contract, but a voluntary meal plan through UCI Dining can be purchased. Vista del Campo and Vista del Campo Norte are just up the road from AV, and are apartment-style, but are still run by UCI, so there are still many regulations and C.A.'s make rounds at night daily. VDC Norte, or simply "Norte" for short, has single rooms and double rooms for undergraduates; one common layout in an apartment in Norte has one double and two singles to an apartment. VDC has single rooms for undergraduates in the form of single, double, triple, or quad room occupancy with shared bathrooms in one apartment. To address the growing needs of housing and promote more on-campus house, UCI decided to open another apartment style housing for undergraduates called Camino Del Sol. Camino Del Sol provides single rooms, as well as a pool, community center, and fitness center. For each housing community, ASUCI provides shuttles to allow students to travel between their housing site and campus. The wait for each bus can range around 7–10 minutes; this allows fast transfer to the UCI campus.

Off-campus housing options vary widely, given a student's preferred living arrangements and budget. However, a common denominator for off-campus apartment housing in Irvine and nearby Newport Beach, Tustin, and Costa Mesa is the fact that most accommodations are maintained by The Irvine Company. UCI offers off-campus housing search assistance and roommate listings through its student housing office.

Gender-neutral and LGBT housing will be offered to students at UC Irvine beginning Fall 2010. These new housing options are inclusive to all students and may be a big step towards equality in the community. For first-years, the “Open House” dorm will be located in Isengard in Middle Earth. The Open House will be a non-judgmental space where the diversity of identities and gender expressions are celebrated. It will provide opportunities for personal development to flourish in a gender-free and transgender-friendly living environment. This gender-neutral hall allows for both same and opposite gender roommate pairings. For continuing students, the “Spectrum House” in Arroyo Vista will also be available as well. The community welcomes the cultural experiences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning students and their allies.