Transportation
Air Travel
We can reimburse you for a direct economy flight. The closest airport to campus is San Jose International (SJC, 33 miles), but San Francisco (SFO, 61 miles) is not too far either.
If you intend to combine personal travel or other non-UCSC business travel with this trip, please see this form.
Ground Transportation
You will be reimbursed for the cost of an Uber/Lyft from the airport to your housing accommodations. Public transportation is also an option, see this link. A larger group may prefer to get an Early Bird Shuttle.
If you’re interested in getting a rental car, we may be able to accommodate that, however please request prior authorization from Jonathan Fortney, Program Director (jfortney@ucsc.edu).
Public Transportation
Once you have arrived in Santa Cruz, there are several public transportation options below.
Parking on Campus
A parking pass is required to park on campus. Cars without passes will be ticketed. Please let us know if you will be driving to campus, or keeping a car on campus, and need a parking pass. That is part of the acceptance form.
Campus Navigation
Please find an interactive map of campus here. We will follow up with a detailed map of the on campus Kreske College (J&K Buildings) Apartments, the Center for Adaptive Optics (CfAO) and Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB).
Housing
Where is on-campus housing?
OWL Attendees can stay on campus in the Porter College Apartments.
What amenities do the apartments have?
Each apartment is 2 bedrooms (1 bedroom per person) and is furnished with common furniture for the whole apartment. The kitchen contains a gas stove and oven, full size refrigerator, double stainless steel sink, and numerous cabinets for storage. Some videos are online.
The bathroom has a private shower area with a ventilation window, a private toilet area with a window, and two sinks with mirrors and medicine cabinets. Apartments also have a small hallway closet, and a larger bike closet for limited storage.
Each resident is provided with an extra long twin bed and mattress (86″x36″x6″) with bedding, desk, chair, bookshelf, and clothing storage unit in the form of a closet or wardrobe.
Apartments do not have tableware, pots, pans, or a microwave. OWL will work towards obtaining a small collection of tableware/pots/pans as needed.
Can I stay off campus?
You may certainly opt to find your own off-campus housing. Past participants have rented shared Airbnbs. We can reimburse you for $116 per night per person, if your housing is being supported. We cannot reimburse you for any insurance fees. If you have personal/family needs to stay off campus, and $116/night would create a hardship, please contact Director Jonathan Fortney.
Reimbursable Expenses
In order to be reimbursed for your travel costs, please provide the requested information below. As a reminder, here are the reimbursable expenses:
– Airfare (if purchasing one-way tickets, please provide a cost comparison for a round trip ticket for the same dates. If you are combining your OWL trip with personal travel, we can only reimburse up to a direct round trip flight from your home location to UCSC. See here. )
– Rental Car (please get PRIOR authorization from Jonathan Fortney)
– Ground Transportation to/from airports (e.g Uber, shuttle, etc).
– Lodging ($116 per night per person maximum)
– Personal car mileage
– Food purchases – daily limit is $60, based on actual expenses
In order to be reimbursed, you must provide ITEMIZED receipts. Unfortunately, we CANNOT reimburse alcohol. If you purchase alcohol, please purchase it in a separate transaction.
SENDING RECEIPTS: Please send your reimbursable receipts as an attachment in a NEW email to owlsummer2024@gmail.com with the subject header: “OWL Reimbursement Receipt”.
REMINDER: You will be reimbursed for all of your expenses AFTER your trip is completed. We will reimburse all of your expenses at once, rather than one-by-one. It is possible to be reimbursed for flights before attending the summer program if you are unable to afford the initial cost of plane fare or are experiencing financial hardship.
Lastly, please complete this form in order to receive direct deposit: https://financial.ucsc.edu/Pages/WF_Payee_Setup_204.aspx
Food reimbursement does not require receipts.
Food
Summer on-campus food options typically involve several lunch food trucks, 1-2 dining halls, and 1-2 on-campus restaurants. We will provide continental breakfast and coffee each morning, and we will likely do group orders for lunches some days.
There is a $55 per day limit on food expenses. This is based on the actual amounts incurred and should not be treated as a per diem.
Please direct further questions to: