Wait lists for dorms have decreased by hundreds over the past few years because of new dorm openings and re-openings of renovated dorms.
Each year, students who do not make the cut for on-campus housing are put on a standby list. After the first week of school, the members of the Residential Life Assignments Staff perform a “fail to claim” procedure that enables them to provide students on the list with rooms.
For fall 2012, the standby list shrunk from 800 to 200 students. This change is attributed to the re-opening of the first six floors of Kirby-Smith Hall, said Jay High, Residential Life associate director of Communications and Development.
The opening of North Hall and the re-opening of East Laville Hall created 790 available beds for fall 2012 and helped decrease the number of students on standby, High added.
It is not known how many students will be left without on-campus housing this year until “fail to claim” is finished, High said.
“[The standby list] is different every year,” High said. “It kind of baffles us sometimes.”
The list for fall 2008 was non-existent. Students without room assignments were housed in emptied kitchens and some two-person rooms became three-person rooms.
“We were trying to do students a favor, but we got a lot of bad press for it,” High said.
Fall 2009 saw a standby list of 800 students. By the end of the first week of classes, everyone on the list was assigned to a room, High said.
The next year, fall 2010, the standby list consisted of 1,200 students. High said all but about 100 of those students received a room assignment.
At this time, the ResLife staff discussed creating a residency requirement for freshmen but realized that it would require turning upper classmen away from on-campus housing.
“We average 68 percent of the first-year class living on campus,” High said. “This year it’s going up to 75 percent. The goal of the first year residency requirement is 77 or 78 percent. We’re almost there.”
Students and parents said they have found that living on campus has its advantages.
“Since you’re on campus, you have easier access to teachers and students who know what you’re talking about,” said Geornessa McKinley, a physics freshman.
Helga Arango, mother of Natalia Arango, animal science freshman, said on-campus housing is important for the transition from high school to college life.
High said the off-campus student communities like Aspen Heights, The Cottages and The Woodlands create competition for on-campus housing.
“They are our competition, but when you’re at capacity you have to think ‘Gosh, if they weren’t there, where would these people stay?’” High said.
