Extra Dorm Opens to Meet Housing Demand

Housing officials said the problem was caused by last-minute applications.

"We had more students than we anticipated, and fortunately we were able to open Spencer," said Christopher Payne, director of housing and residential Education.

"We took a proactive and responsive approach to that need," he said.

"The number of students who needed housing for summer and didn't have a housing assignment wasn't known to us until very late in the assignment process."

Summer housing assignments are made on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the housing application.

The recommended deadline for applications was two weeks before the halls opened for summer session on May 21, but Rebecca Casey, assistant director for marketing and conference services, said applications are accepted throughout the summer until all spaces are filled.

Casey said there are usually more spaces available than are needed. She said allocations this summer were based on the number of applications for last year.

But according to housing records, last year there were 750 housing applications for first session. Casey said there were 741 applications this year, including 28 students who had applied after May 21.

She said these students were assigned to Spencer after it was opened to meet the additional demand from these last-minute applicants.

The housing department took applications from April 2 until residence halls were filled in late May. But Britt Martin, a senior from Shelby, said he applied on time but was assigned to Spencer.

"I thought it was pretty slack of the housing department not to be able to calculate," Martin said.

"They waited until people got here and classes already started before opening up the dorms." But Casey said all residence halls slated for summer occupancy were opened well before the first day of classes on May 22. She said Spencer was opened in addition to these dorms on May 28 to accommodate additional students who were having problems finding housing.

Originally, Spencer was slated to be closed for repairs on its roof and windows throughout the summer, Payne said. Instead, it was re-opened to meet the late need of some students.

He said Spencer will be closed for the second session to allow for the repair work.

Martin said he thought some students had no rooms because housing officials wanted to open as few halls as possible.

"They didn't want to accept the fact that they needed to open another dorm," he said.

But Payne said Housing created more space when they learned that some students could not find housing for the summer.

Said Payne, "Once we learned that some students, for whatever reason, did not pursue off campus alternatives, we created more space."

Ama Boaten can be reached at boaten6@hotmail.com.