Students may be surprised to learn that despite the over-enrollment that left more than 400 students out of the residence halls this year, University Housing currently has roughly 175 vacant beds.
The University started advertising the open spaces on its Web site, but most of the students who were turned away from the halls last spring cannot claim these open beds because they’ve already signed contracts with other rental agencies.
University Housing Director Allen Gidley said last-minute cancellations have freed space in the halls. Currently, there are about 3,500 students living in the University residence halls, which Gidley said puts housing at a comfortable occupancy level.
“Thirty-five hundred is our marketable capacity,” Gidley said. Although the number of students in the residence halls varies from year to year, housing officials generally aim to keep the occupancy at that level, Gidley said.
This leaves approximately 175 beds open and unoccupied.
This comes as a shock to Chelsea Van Midde, a freshman who is one of 400 students at Stadium Park Apartments because she was put on the wait list for space in the residence halls.
Preliminary numbers last spring indicated the residence halls would be dramatically overbooked for fall 2008, and housing officials were left scrambling to find accommodations for the hundreds of students who were put on the wait list pending available beds.
In an attempt to help the hundreds of wait-listed freshmen, University officials collaborated with Stadium Park Apartments to house roughly 400 students on the other side of the river.
“I applied (to housing) eight days late,” Van Midde said. “They told me I needed to look at alternative options because there was no way you could get in (the residence halls).”
Initially, there were about 5,000 students who submitted their applications before the March 31 priority deadline, theoretically guaranteeing them a room in one of the residence halls. In total, housing can comfortably house around 3,600, Gidley said.
Housing officials were aware many of these applicants would most likely not claim a dorm room in the fall, but because of the unusually high volume of applicants guaranteed a space, University Housing began preparing for an overflow to hit the residence halls.
In addition to reserving space for students at Stadium Park, housing made preparations in the residence halls to eliminate single rooms, pair resident assistants and FIG assistants with roommates, and house some of the students in lounges that would be set up like dormitories.
By mid-summer, Gidley said housing became confident it would not need to pair RAs and FAs with a roommate. Toward the end of summer, housing became convinced it would not need the overflow lounge space, either.
“As cancellations came in, we were able to offer more single rooms,” Gidley said.
In total, there are nearly 2,000 rooms in all the various halls – roughly 300 of these rooms are currently designated as singles.
Van Midde, who came to the University from Marin County, Calif., accepted the University’s offer for a room at Stadium Park because she felt it was the best option in lieu of a dorm room. Now that space is available on campus, she wishes she could have the opportunity to experience the dorms.
“I wish I would have known that the dorm rooms would free up,” Van Midde said. “If I had know that, I would not be stuck out there.”
Van Midde said she and her roommate are unhappy with the long commute to and from campus, and they dislike not having the opportunity to network with other freshmen in the halls.
“The reason I picked this school was because I love the campus, and I feel like I’m seeing so much less of it and missing out on so much of the freshman experience,” Van Midde said. “It’s really nice living in an apartment, but it’s just so far away.”
Michael Smith, University Stadium Park complex director, said he and his staff have many plans to hold events and programs similar to those held in the residence halls on campus.
“There are some challenges we have here that are not in the halls,” said Stadium Park community assistant Sam Burke. “Getting people together will be more challenging, but not impossible.”
Van Midde said although she has seen notices on her door about events going on around campus, she has seen little for the Stadium Park residents.
“They’ve had a few community meetings, but they don’t put in enough effort to let people know what events are going on,” Van Midde said.
Other Stadium Park residents are happier with their living situations.
“It’s a pretty nice place, and I think it’s a lot better deal than (the residence halls),” said freshman Charlie Taylor. “I don’t really mind the distance.”
[email protected]