Due to overbooking, 64 freshmen and five transfer students are currently bunked up with resident advisors, a temporary arrangement until more beds open up.
“Some of those students will live with an RA for the entire semester and in January they’ll get assigned a permanent space,” director of university housing Tom Kane said.
Ella Duffy, a freshman special education major, is one of those students.
“When I first found out I was going to be placed in temporary housing, I was extremely shocked and a little frustrated,” Duffy said. “I knew adjusting to college life was already going to be stressful enough, so hearing that I didn’t even have a permanent room assignment only added another challenge.”
Marie McGurk, a senior criminal justice major, said that two residence halls had to be designated all female dorms due to the disproportionate number of female applicants.
University Housing gave returning students the option to cancel their on-campus housing assignment before Aug. 1 without having to pay the $250 cancellation fee.
Kane said that housing estimates are based on cancellation rates, which fluctuate slightly each year.
“People say, well how can you be overbooked now?” Kane said. “No two years are the same. What you do is look at how many people canceled last year from the time people signed up for housing, how big the freshmen class is and how many people do we expect to cancel by the time we open.”
Kane said 25-100 beds typically open up in the spring semester.
Sophie Dano, a freshman exercise science major, is also living in temporary housing.
“When I first found out I was mad and confused as to why I didn’t have a permanent place to stay,” Dano said.
Students have 48 hours to move into their new room when a bed opens up, with the option of help from University Housing Support Services staff.
Duffy said that housing will try to keep her in the same dorm, but reassignments are largely based on which beds open up first and there are no guarantees.
Dano said that the dynamic with an RA isn’t the same as with another freshman. They’ve already been through the freshman experience and can’t share that with you, but RAs can offer valuable perspective on the first few weeks of classes and having a bigger room doesn’t hurt either.
“There are so many benefits from living with an RA, not only do we get a bigger room, closet and personal bathroom, I have an upperclassmen right across the room from me that can answer any questions I could ever have,” Duffy said. “I know all the changes will be difficult and challenging to navigate, but I’m going to stay positive.”
Story by: Haile Hamilton, News Reporter