Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 14, 1995 TAG: 9509140063
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
About 500 upperclassmen were offered $250 of incentives to move off campus and ease the university's dormitory overcrowding from its largest ever freshman class.
The freshman class this year reached 4,713 students - almost 500 more than the target set in January and about 400 more than any previous freshmen class.
Ed Spencer, director of residential and dinning programs, said the initial target of 4,250 freshman was used to decide how many upperclassmen could be offered on-campus housing. The university has dorm space for 8,400 students - or 42 percent of the undergraduate enrollment.
Karen Torgersen, executive associate director of undergraduate admissions and enrollment services, said that in midwinter of last year, after the initial freshman class size was set, the university decided to accept 250 additional out-of-state freshmen. The number increased a second time when more freshman than expected accepted offers to attend.
"It's a pleasant surprise," Torgersen said. She attributes the increased acceptance to several factors, including academics and the university's increased exposure from athletic successes in the past couple of years.
About 340 students who had contracts to live on-campus accepted the university's buyout, which included receiving their $100 nonrefundable deposit and $150 in dining dollars. While a buyout is not unusual, this was the first time the university offered more than the deposit refund.
The university was also much more active in persuading upperclassmen to move off-campus. Students with housing contracts received two buyout letters, the first in the spring with a follow-up in the summer.
Spencer said there were two other alternatives after the buyout offer: converting Main Campbell from a graduate residential hall to an undergraduate dorm and temporarily housing about 70 male freshmen with male residential advisers.
"It was a tough decision to make [but] we had no other alternative given the size of the freshman class," Spencer said.
While undergraduates benefitted from having an extra residential hall, graduate students now occupy only Hillcrest Hall. Spencer said this situation is only temporary for this year and Main Campbell will go back to being a graduate residential hall next year.
This is not the first time the university has had overcrowded dorms, Spencer said. More upperclassmen are requesting to live on-campus than in previous years.
"This has been the biggest challenge our department has seen," Spencer said about this year's housing situation.
The overcrowding of resident halls spilled over into the town, with more students looking for a place to live at the start of the school year.
Most apartment complexes in Blacksburg are at capacity or near capacity. While this is not unusual, the consensus among rental offices has been that rentals have filled more quickly and there's been a crunch to find one- and two-bedroom apartments.
"The first week of school was a little out of the ordinary," said Amanda Lawson, manager at Shawnee/Whipple Drive Apartments. She said a number of students were staying in hotel rooms while they tried to find a place to live.
Housing is not the only crunch. The university's commuter parking lots have seen extra traffic this year.
As of the end of August, 6,551 commuter parking stickers had been issued - about 500 more than last year. Construction of a new engineering building near Whittemore Hall has forced the relocation of 455 faculty spaces to the B lot, which has been traditionally used primarily for student parking.
Those additional spaces came at a cost to student parking in the B lot. Students did gain 250 spaces at the overflow parking lot near the Duck Pond.
Curtis Lynch, director of parking services, said by 9:30 a.m. the B Lot is full, something that was not typical in previous years.
by CNB