With all but four temporary beds removed from University housing, the Office of Residential Life now has 20 beds free, according to Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services.
The surplus comes after three consecutive years of overcrowding, peaking at the start of last year when 74 students were living in converted common spaces.
On the first day of this semester, the University was expecting 4,689 students to live on campus, 10 more students than there were beds, Bova said. But this number did not account for "melt," or students that decide not to come back to Brown each semester.
As of now, the "melt" is about 30 students, Bova said, which is on par with previous years.
During the first few weeks of every year, some common spaces are turned into temporary housing, but "as students settle, so do we," Bova said.
This year, ResLife set up 42 beds in temporary housing. The common spaces are converted as a safety measure for last minute issues requiring students to move. There were several emergencies over the first few weeks, Bova said, and three students were living in temporary housing at the start of term. Those three students have since moved off campus.
Thirty-eight of these temporary beds — including the housing in Vartan Gregorian Quad and Wriston Quadrangle — have been restored to their original use as common rooms, Bova said, and there are currently no occupants in the remaining two doubles.
These two rooms will likely remain as such for the duration of the semester in case students unexpectedly need housing, but will be converted back by next semester, Bova said. These rooms are not kitchens, nor are they from buildings with few common areas, he added. Though the melt creates vacancies, free beds may be in "dingles" — rooms with two beds but only one occupant — and might not be acceptable for someone with an emergency who does not wish to live with a roommate.
Bova estimated that of the more than 100 juniors put on the wait list for off-campus permission last year, all but a couple ultimately received approval. There are currently 1,340 students living off-campus.
