The Nexus analyzed reports of mold and pests from UC Santa Barbara Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises, finding that ants made up one-third of the reports and Santa Ynez Apartments had the highest reports for roaches and bed bugs.

Using California’s Freedom of Information Act, the Nexus filed a request with UCSB’s Public Records Act Office on June 30, asking for reports of mold, insects and pests in campus facilities. The office provided the requested records on Sept. 20. 

Since 2016, UCSB Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises (HDAE) has received 6,004 pest control reports. The majority of these reports are filed in the beginning of the school year, with 35.7% filed in September and October.

The top three listed pests specified in the requests were ants, with 1,732 reports; roaches, with 276 reports; and bed bugs, with 239 reports since 2016.

San Nicolas had the highest number of reported bed bugs with 60 cases since 2016. San Rafael and Manzanita Village, which are located on the western side of the main campus, had the second- and third-highest reports of bedbugs, with 44 and 28 cases respectively.

Santa Ynez Apartments had the greatest number of reports for roaches, with 84 since 2016, making up 30% of all reports for roaches.

Storke Apartments had the most reports in total with 967 reports, West Campus Apartments were second with 777 reports and Santa Ynez Apartments was third with 664 reports. For on-campus housing, Manzanita had the most reports with 524, followed by Anacapa with 307 reports.

Since 2016, 17 pest reports have been made regarding the dining halls. De La Guerra had 15 reports filed, while Carrillo and Ortega each had one and Portola had none.

HDAE has also received 213 reports of mold since 2016. Only 16 of these reports have been since January 2020.

Santa Ynez Apartments had the greatest number of reports for mold with 28 reports, followed by San Clemente Villages with 21 reports and Storke Apartments with 20. Santa Cruz was the dorm with 16 requests followed by Santa Catalina with 14 reports.

Eleven of the reports for mold describe black mold in the request, the last of which was in October 2019.

A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Oct. 14, 2021 print edition of the Daily Nexus

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Alex Rudolph
Alex Rudolph (he/him/his) was the Data Editor for the 2021-22 school year. He can be reached at data@dailynexus.com.