A new independent review produced by a 13-member panel made up of faculty and community members at the University of California, Santa Barbara has outlined a host of health and safety risks inherent in the contested Munger Hall megadorm design proposal.

The report cited the need for Covid-safe ventilation techniques, safer egress routes, and the psychological toll taken on students as factors to be considered in a “robust redesign” that would follow the changes made previously in response to a torrent of community feedback. It also decried a lack of outside input early on.

“[A] majority of Panel members believes that such information could have averted the critical concerns raised by the current design,” the report stated. “Research and analysis weighed by this Panel reveal significant health and safety risks that are predictable enough, probable enough, and consequential enough that it would be unwise for UCSB to proceed without significant modifications to the design.”

According to the LA Times, their recommendations yielded the following:

• Adding “operable windows” in every suite and as many bedrooms as possible (a response from UCSB's project team claimed to be “actively working” with unnamed architects to increase the number of windows).
• Increasing the size of single bedrooms to match or exceed existing campus designs on campus.
• Adding cooking appliances in the kitchenette of each suite.
• Reducing the population density and mass of the building.

This comes after an attempt by a group of students to get officials to consider an alternative design that would add a total of 6,573 beds — more than 3,000 more than is currently called for — to the UCSB inventory.

In response, the Munger Hall project team said: “Our Santa Barbara community has been acutely impacted by unprecedented demands for housing. We will continue to work together with our community to increase access to affordable on-campus housing for our current student body while also providing world-class amenities and student support services — all within a design that fosters community-building.”

UCSB's petition for approval from the University of California Board of Regents and the California Coastal Commission is expected to be submitted soon.