As the higher education investigative reporter at California Watch, I spent several months working on a project about seismic safety at public universities. So we decided to put together a tip sheet aimed at community journalists and students who want to dive in to find out more details. Here are some places to start:
California State University
Explore our map and list to find out whether local campuses have any unfixed buildings.
To research what else the campus has built or prioritized since discovering its seismic problems, you can take a look at the construction projects each campus has funded by reviewing five-year capital improvement program books. These are available online going back to 2005.
Look in particular at the previous five-year capital improvement program, which shows past project funding for each campus. Also read project descriptions.
This document will also show you each year's priority list for statewide funding for projects that are eligible for general obligation bond money. Check out whether your campus has placed its seismic project(s) on the list.
Prior to 2005, the capital outlay books are available in hard-copy only at the CSU Chancellor's Office in Long Beach.
The CSU Seismic Review Board assesses buildings and assigns a seismic risk level on a scale from 1-7. No public university buildings are rated Level 7. Level 6 buildings go on Priority List 1, and Level 5 buildings go on Priority List 2.
Here's the CSU Seismic Policy. Go to the end to see an explanation of the seismic rating system and the seismicity of each campus site.
Not all buildings on the list have detailed, written engineering reports, but a few do because the Seismic Review Board requested special studies, or the campus has commissioned one. Ask the CSU Chancellor's office and the campus if a study was conducted for the building you are interested in.
The studies should provide more detail about the building's weaknesses and the suggested retrofits. Sometimes they also include projected costs for different upgrade scenarios.
University of California
Explore our map and list to find out whether local campuses have any unfixed buildings.
To research what else the campus has built or prioritized since discovering its seismic problems, you can request from the UC Office of the President spreadsheets that list all the projects funded by state and non-state money since 1982 at the UC campuses. To dig deeper on specific projects you can:
- Search for descriptions of the projects you are interested in by reviewing previous capital outlay requests (online, these go back to 2004-05).
- Review the minutes of the UC Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings (these go back to 1997).
- For smaller projects and non-state funded projects, you can request Project Summary Forms from campuses to get a better idea of when they were approved and why they were done.
- Additionally, some campuses have details about their capital projects online, such as UC Santa Barbara.
Campuses have detailed engineering reports on "Poor" or "Very Poor" buildings and structures.
You can also cross-check your campus' list of seismically risky buildings with the list of buildings that have been renovated to find out whether the university has performed upgrades without fixing the safety issues first.
For reference, the UC Seismic Policy with the explanation of the rating system is here.
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