Res Life faces housing shortage

Oberlin is a hotel with the "no vacancy" light on.

Residential Life and Services found itself scrambling in early August to find rooms to house incoming students, as the start of the school year rapidly approached.

Clearing space for the building of the new science complex required the destruction of part of Barrows, the all first-year dorm, and with that the loss of 85 beds. The loss of beds might have been absorbed had the College enrollment remained average. However, enrollment, according to Res Life's standards, has increased, and not just with the incoming class.

According to Paul Mathers, senior associate director of admissions, admissions standards were higher than previous years for the incoming class. This, however, did not seem to have much of an effect, and roughly 820 new students enrolled, exceeding the average enrollment of 755.

Expectations were also surpassed when 217 students who were on leave decided to come back, 10 over the average. Moreover, the number of students who requested to take leave dropped. According to current records there are almost 3000 students now enrolled.

Although the increased enrollment is positive news for the school, it has put a strain on Res Life. The number of first-years, as well as many junior and senior transfers who chose to live on campus created this housing strain by their sheer numbers.

"A lot of institutions are experiencing this," said Sandra Hougland, manager of housing and dining.

To create space, requests to live off campus from all juniors and seniors were granted in hopes of making a dent in the problem. When this didn't seem to phase the problem, action was necessary.

"We haven't had people in lounges since 1985," Hougland said.

Lounges and custodial breakrooms were converted into rooms, while other rooms, like the apartments in Asia House, were reclaimed for students. Lounges in South, Dascomb, East, Barrows and Langston Halls were converted, several into triples. Custodial breakrooms became standard sized single rooms. Apartments on the third floor of Asia House used to house various faculty and staff were reclaimed and instead will house upperclassmen.

Program houses also have been greatly affected. Even though some students had not requested to live there, 90 students were nonetheless assigned to live in various program houses.

Program houses, nonetheless seem to be embracing the situation.

"They are determined to keep all first-years," said Yeworkwha Belachew (YB), interim associate dean and director of Res Life.

"Our hope would be to un-triple [the lounges]," said YB when asked if students would be living in the lounges and custodial spaces all year.

On Thursday a wait list was started for room changes, predating the end of the two-week freeze on rooming assignments. Priority will be given to those students in triples.

In order to better the living conditions Res Life spent the summer improving various other attributes of the residence halls. Before the demolition of Barrows, closets, beds, dressers and other furniture were salvaged for the converted rooms. In Barrows, just under one hundred thousand dollars was spent upgrading furniture, and repainting the lounge, among other things. Elsewhere on campus, Langston received new mattresses and Dascomb a new roof.

"It was a very conscious decision," said Larry Gibson, interim assistant director of Residential Life and Services / Facilities. "Trying to get all that done has been hard work."

Student opinions seem mixed about living in the converted rooms, despite the other improvements. Complaints range from not having a real doorknob to the lack of a phone number. YB, however, said her reactions with students and parents were positive.

The implications of the housing shortage are still unclear.

"It depends on what the institution decides to do with enrollment," said Hougland.

YB remarked that a planning committee may be created in the near future to examine expanding the available housing.