By Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reporter
When the University's Housing department guarantees all incoming students on-campus housing, they never know what to expect.
Size estimates for the class of 2001 show a high number of students accepting their admission to the University. While this statistic is looked on favorably by most admissions counselors, Housing is faced with the task of preventing a housing shortage.
Dana Fair, public affairs and marketing director of University Housing, said that because of the unforeseeable projection of students who accept the University's offer to attend, precautions have been made to avoid a shortage of residence hall rooms in the fall.
"In Housing, we have no control over the number of students who are admitted to the University," Fair said. "At this point, we are not expecting a crunch."
Fair said that because the housing office anticipates more incoming students than last year's large class of about 5,200 students, they allowed housing reapplicants to cancel their leases without penalties. Housing also has cleared spaces in Baits housing, which is traditionally reserved for upperclassman, to accommodate the class of 2001, he said.
University Spokesperson Julie Peterson said the housing office's precautionary measures can be attributed to the consistent communication between the admissions and housing staffs.
"Housing has known for a while that this was coming," Peterson said. "Since then, Housing has done a number of things to make space in the system. I think they're doing a good job of it," she said.
Fair said Housing is attempting to phase out the use of overflow rooms in residence halls to make students' living environments more comfortable.
Incoming Engineering student Brian Goldstein, who received an overflow triple as his room assignment, said he is not angry about his placement, but the cramped space may cause a few inconveniences.
"Might be kind of crowded," Goldstein said. "Not much place to move around, keep my clothes and stuff."
Unlike Goldstein, some students have not yet been sent their room assignments.
Sheng Binyang, also an incoming Engineering student, said that although the University has not yet placed him in a residence hall, he is not worried about being left without a space.
If he is not given a room on campus, Binyang said he might rent an apartment near his Canton, Mich., home and commute to the University.
Incoming LSA student Diana Sulchman said she is confident of getting a room, even if the location of the room does not correlate with her Central Campus request.
"I know I'm going to get something," Sulchman said. "It will probably be an overflow quad on North Campus."
Despite the ideas that residence halls foster friendships and facilitate learning experiences, Binyang said first-year students would not necessarily be robbed of the experience of meeting other students if they didn't live in a residence hall. Students can make friends through other mediums, he said.
"I think class and discussion group, if you really want to meet people," Binyang said. "You don't really have to live in the dorms."
Although the number of students accepting the University's offer to attend are up from previous years, Peterson said current and future trends cannot necessarily be assumed.
"Right now, it just seems like an aberration," Peterson said. "We're seeing a lot of our strength with in-state enrollment. What we can make of this, it's too early to say."
Fair said he is not aware of any planned construction of additional residence halls, but a strategic planning committee has discussed the possibility of expansion.
Other college campuses have experienced difficulties in housing all of their students, according to U.S. News and World Report.
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