Last year's unusually large freshman class is still presenting a strain on housing this year, as about 60 students — mostly sophomores — move this week into bedrooms converted from common rooms and kitchens.
The makeshift rooms will be temporary, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services. Some students are set to move into more permanent housing as early as next week, he said. Vacancies are expected to open up as some matriculants and returning students either do not show up or leave shortly after arriving, Bova said. Many students move out in the first weeks of classes, he added, but sometimes it takes longer.
The housing shortfall has brought inconveniences to students and has deprived some of cooking appliances and common areas, students told The Herald.
"We couldn't get a house from the lottery so we just filled out some forms for some housing assignment," Ibrahim Turdu '12 said, who put himself on the housing waitlist this summer, along with others now housed in converted common spaces.
ResLife said that "this is a temporary room and probably we are going to be here until the end of the first semester," Turdu said. "People want to use the kitchen, so people come and knock on our door to use the kitchen, but since we are here, they cannot use it."
Shanna Hsu '12 looked for housing for a group of 11 in last year's housing lottery. "We got a very bad number and then we ended up not being able to fit into any of the rooms remaining," she said.
Opting for a double, Hsu heard in late August that she would live in a triple with a newly-arrived transfer student. "The rest of the group — most of them are in triples. There's two groups of guys that are in New Dorm," she said.
Jeremy Yau '12 and Bao-Nhat Nguyen '12 moved this week into a room in New Dorm that was formerly the hall's kitchen and common area. "We're in a triple and we were told that it's temporary," Yau said.
Nguyen said the room was occupied last year as well and that those students moved out in a month and a half.
"We don't know if we are going to be moved out, or when or where," Yau said.
Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn said the University had plans to expand its residential offerings, but the recession has complicated these plans.
"What's happening now is not an intentional increase in the number of admitted students," she said.
