New and returning students are making their way back to Cal Poly’s campus this week and the City of San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly officials are working to make the transition for students as smooth as possible.
With classes starting on Thursday, Cal Poly students are seeing more foot and car traffic throughout the campus with a record high number of students living on campus.
This year, the City of San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly leaders have teamed up to help students become part of the San Luis Obispo community.
According to Cal Poly, about 22,500 students are enrolled for the fall quarter.
Just under 9,000 students are living on campus and that is the highest number of students living on campus in the school’s history.
"Tons of people now and we don't get the bathrooms to ourselves now,” said student Micah Sanchez.
Sanchez is a freshman at Cal Poly. He moved in a month ago as part of the cross-country team and says he liked being one of the only people on campus.
"It was kind of nice living alone. It was just the sports teams living on campus. Now once everyone’s in, BG’s is kind of flooded. That’s alright though," Sanchez said.
With so many new students in town, the City of San Luis Obispo is enforcing a Safety Enhancement Zone that will continue until September 25.
During this time, fines will be doubled for party-related offenses like open containers and noise violations.
Police will be sharing information about the Safety Enhancement Zone and the city’s good neighbor rules with students at on-campus events as well as those in nearby neighborhoods.
Despite the loads of new students, Sanchez is excited for the upcoming school year.
"One thing I'm looking forward to most is competing in the sports teams and going through mechanical engineering,” Sanchez said.
Connor Lops is a WOW group leader and is in charge of leading freshmen.
"We just lead them around SLO and around campus and kind of show them what their college experience is going to be like,” Lops said.
WOW stands for Week of Welcome, a program to include new students in campus life by participating in activities and events around Cal Poly.
Continuing students will start moving back on campus on Monday and Tuesday of this week. School and city officials advise those who typically travel around the Cal Poly area to expect more traffic and give themselves more travel time.
