Juniors and seniors who scrambled to find living arrangements for next year after University Housing announced this past fall that they would not be eligible for traditional residence hall housing may be surprised to learn that nearly 300 spaces in such halls are now open to them.
"We started this out in the fall to ... reduce overcrowding," said Alan Levy, director of Housing public affairs.
Housing officials were unaware of the extra spots until a few days ago when the number of places available after students who had re-applied for University housing - in addition to those set aside for incoming students - could be counted, Levy said.
"We didn't know for sure how many leases would be signed until we were done," Levy said.
The additional spaces may have resulted from returning students who felt they would have better chances finding off-campus housing, Levy said.
"The fact is that in the fall, a lot of upper-class students were making housing decisions and reacting to the housing restrictions ... we made the best estimate (of returning students) we could at the time," Levy said. "What was not possible to predict was upper-class students not wanting to live in non-traditional halls.
"We knew it would be hard to get it just right," Levy said.
The restrictions placed on students returning to residence halls, including the exclusion of juniors and seniors from traditional housing, were the first in more than 10 years, Levy said. "Traditional housing" encompasses meal-serving residence halls.
LSA sophomore Matt Meeuwsen re-applied for housing through the regular draw in February, and said Housing created restrictions on upper-class students as a "tactic" to create the excess space.
"I find it surprising that the University can overestimate or underestimate that much," Meeuwsen said.
Meeuwsen, who will live in a non-traditional residence hall next year, said he does not know if he would have applied for the walk-in lottery because he was concerned about his chances in February.
"Housing put some concerns and doubts (in students' minds) about whether there would be rooms available," Meeuwsen said.
In case the number of applicants who accept the University's offer of admission is greater than estimated, the University can use the extra spaces for incoming students, said Levy.
He added that while it is not likely, it is still possible that some first-year students could be placed in temporary housing.
"The fact that we signed fewer leases than we anticipated or looked for ... doesn't translate to what will happen Sept. 1," Levy said. "We have not placed a single new student or sophomore transfer.
"If the yield is higher, that number could evaporate very quickly," Levy said.
Levy said Housing will keep the number of overflow triples to 150 - half the number in use this year.
Residence Hall Association President Tim Wright said he is surprised about the number of open spaces because the number of re-applications was similar to what Housing had predicted.
"Housing's initial goal with all of this was to not have anybody in lounges and (to) reduce the number of converted triples," Wright said. "They've ended up right were they thought they'd never be."
Students may have decided to return to the residence halls because of the late release of information concerning this year's restrictions, Wright said.
"I think there were some students that were really upset with some of the decisions made" this past fall, Wright said. "A lot of students felt like they weren't allowed to come back to the halls and maybe some of them felt they weren't welcome."
In order to better inform students about housing choices, students moving into residence halls this September will be informed of their options within the first month of the semester, Wright said.
"Folks will know exactly where they stand in their options in coming back to the halls," Wright said. "In any case, it will be better for the residents because they will know where they stand in the beginning of the year."
* There will be half as many overflow triples next year as there were this year.
* Students will now learn about their 1998-99 University housing options at the beginning of next semester.
04-01-98
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