ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270156
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: 33 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
THERE'S GOOD NEWS and bad news at Virginia Tech this fall. The good news is that the college has record enrollment, and that's a mark of success, right?
Virginia Tech's record enrollment is bursting Blacksburg's seams.
In all, nearly 24,200 students are expected, bringing the total to 400 to 600 more graduate and undergraduate students than a year ago. Increases in both freshmen and transfer students are helping drive the boost, according to Tech spokesman Larry Hincker.
As a result, Blacksburg housing seems to be at a premium.
The residence halls are so full that even the residence hall advisers have temporary roommates. A buyout offered last month to get 100 men to move out of the dorms has been extended, university officials say.
The apartment complexes, too, are full - some for months now.
University officials have been most concerned about how to help international students find homes, because they generally come with limited English skills, and many stay in Blacksburg for shorter-than-usual periods of time. Those who study at the Cranwell International Center's English as a Second Language Institute sometimes come for only a few weeks.
Concern about the shortage finally reached the point nearly two weeks ago that Tech administrators opened two hotlines to take calls from students looking for places to live. Ads were placed in local papers, announcements in church bulletins, and flyers tacked to local grocery store bulletin boards. Did anyone out there have a spare room for rent?
By last week, the calls were coming in. So were the international students, says Darlene Grega, who directs the Cranwell Center. She was impressed. The students got to work, and many nailed down places to live.
So to any students still looking for a home, she offers this advice: "The key is to keep going back to the same places." Apartments and roommate arrangements apparently are opening up as some students decide not to return, she said.
Also, check in with the Virginia Tech Off-campus Housing Center on the first floor of Squires Student Center.
"They're doing their best to keep things as current as possible," she said, referring to apartment and roommate listings that are coming in every day.
Finally, talk to your fellow students. Some who already have places to live are finding room to squeeze in another roommate.
"A lot of students, I think, are aware of the problem and willing to help," Grega said.
But, like many other university administrators, she said, "the hardest problem is determining the extent of this thing." Just how many students are going to return to Blacksburg with no place to live?
Administrators have mulled ideas such as running a shuttle bus from Radford and Christiansburg, or placing students in a motel.
To reach the Virginia Tech Off-Campus Housing Center, stop by 121 Squires Student Center, call 231-3466, or e-mail vtoch@vt.edu.
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