The Department of Residential Life had to place students applying for housing on a standby list a month earlier than last year.ResLife began putting students on its standby housing list March 31. The department had received 3,502 applications for housing before the standby list.All students who applied before March 31 are guaranteed a spot within the system. But they are not guaranteed a place in a specific hall.Jay High, ResLife communications manager, said the standby list began in early May for the fall 2009 semester and in June for fall 2008.”We are encouraging people to apply earlier,” High said.There are currently 195 male and 189 female applicants on the standby list, High said. There are a total of 3,515 beds within the residential halls.”We’re doing everything we can to make sure those who apply for a room get a room,” High said.ResLife hires students every year to work in a call center, where workers call student applicants who already have a place to make sure they are still planning to move into the residential halls. High said fall 2009’s standby list had about 400 people on it, and ResLife called nearly the whole list. Some on the standby list had already made other arrangements, but everyone was offered a room.”In improving the facilities, we feel we have increased the demand to live on campus,” High said.More than 50 percent of the undergraduate rooms are renovated or new, High said.West Laville will reopen next year, but it will not add to the number of rooms because East Laville will be closing for renovations soon after. In 2008, 265 beds were added with the construction of Blake Hall, and 380 beds were added with the construction of Residential College South and Residential College West.Residential College North is also being constructed, which High said will add about 370 beds. It will be a mixture of live-and-learn students with traditional students. About 700 places will have been added to on-campus housing by 2012 after the new construction and East Laville’s renovation, High said.”We’re pretty confident we’re going to move through the standby list,” High said. – – – -Contact Joanna Zimmerman at [email protected]