University Housing and the Office of Student Affairs are, through a combined effort, taking steps to accommodate the record number of students who have applied for on-campus housing next year – both within the residence halls and by reserving apartments for students that University Housing will not be able to accommodate in the residence halls in Stadium Park Apartments.
Allen Gidley, Associate Director of University Housing, said that Housing will be able to accommodate all students who applied by the March 31 deadline and sent in their deposit and signed contract to University Housing by the May 15 deadline. The number of students who submitted paperwork by the priority deadlines, however, is still larger than in previous years, and Gidley suspects that the office will not be able to offer single rooms in the 2008-09 year.
University Housing is still unsure if it will have to temporarily house students in hall lounge areas, said Gidley.
“We are probably going to lose some of our lounge space, but we aren’t going to be stuffing people into the lounges,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Holmes.
Earlier this month the housing office was unsure how many students would actually be coming to live in the residence halls next fall. Gidley said that though roughly 5,000 students had applied for housing by the March 31 priority deadline, usually some of these students either find alternative housing or choose to attend another university after applying. Residence halls can only accommodate about 3,600 residents.
The number of students who actually sent in their deposit and contract by the department’s May 15 deadline is much lower.
Even so, University Housing has been forced to place the roughly 800 students who did not make the priority deadline on a waiting list. Holmes said University Housing will not have space to house these students in the residence halls.
In order to accommodate these students, the Office of Student Affairs has reserved alternative, off-campus housing at Stadium Park Apartments near Autzen Stadium, where students on the waiting list will be given first priority to rent.
Holmes said the University has signed a letter of commitment with Stadium Park, guaranteeing that it will accommodate a certain number of occupants. The University and Stadium Park are still negotiating certain aspects of the contract, including the exact number of extra beds the University will need, Holmes said.
Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady said the University is waiting until it knows how many students will be taking advantage of this opportunity to specify the number of beds it will be ensuring.
“Robin has really done an outstanding job identifying … additional beds for students on the waiting list for housing,” said Brady.
Holmes said it is a good option for students whom the University will not be able to accommodate, because it will enable these students to “have a shared living situation with other freshmen off campus.”
Holmes is still working out some details of the new housing situation. She said there will be staff and resident assistants at Stadium Park next year to assist the students there.
Additionally, the University is offering students the option of signing up for an on-campus meal plan, though Holmes is recommending that students who want to dine on campus register for the DeDuck program, which allows the students more flexibility in dining economically both on and off campus, she said.
Tina Burns, Stadium Park property manager, said, “We are very excited to partner with the University of Oregon and to provide excellent housing for the University students.”
Sarah Hardy, from Portland, will be entering her freshman year of college next year and is currently on the wait list for University Housing.
Hardy said she received an e-mail from the University informing her that it had reserved space in an off-campus apartment building that she could take advantage of.
“If I can find another school who can give me a dorm room, I’ll go there instead,” said Hardy. “I still definitely want to live on campus, and I’m really looking forward to the close-knit experience you get living in the dorms.”
Reserving space in Stadium Park has caused some inconvenience to some of the building’s current occupants, however.
A Stadium Park employee said current occupants who have recently tried to renew their contracts are being put on a waiting list pending available space because the agreement Stadium Park has with the University has caused the complex to reach capacity much more quickly.
Kevin McClain, Stadium Park resident and University student, said he was able to renew his lease only because the management told him to “hurry up and get it in very early.”
“I’m guessing that people who live here are pretty clueless about what is going on,” said McClain.