Collegiate Times

Many returning students at Virginia Tech will not receive housing contracts next year because of housing scarcity across campus.

The Tech housing office will offer 3,285 contracts to returning students, a figure that is approximately 75 percent of the number of students who applied for housing for the 2009-10 school year.

Ed Spencer, vice president for student affairs, says that there are several reasons why the demand for on-campus housing increased so much this year.

"There are about 350 more freshmen this year that accepted the offer of admission for the 2009-2010 school year, and they are more likely to apply for campus housing," Spencer said.

Freshmen are guaranteed housing their first year at Tech, and with the increase of accepted offers of admission, many more housing spots have been saved for them.

"Many returning students wish to live on campus because of the economy. They feel that living on campus is less expensive than living off, but I am not sure if I agree with that, " Spencer said.

Tech works to ensure that students know all the details of living off campus before they decide to do so, though many students will be forced to move regardless of their will.

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Virginia Tech Off-Campus Housing will be hosting its Spring 2009 housing fair. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Commonwealth Ballroom in Squires Student Center. Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend, free of charge.

The fair will provide students with an opportunity to speak to more than 40 different vendors, including property management companies and Internet and cable providers.

Even with many students moving off campus, the issue of not having enough housing is still prominent.

"Tech is embarking on a major multi-year renovation program for all student housing," Spencer said.

The multi-year renovation project was underway before the lottery process for the 2009-10 school year began. The plan includes updating any residence hall that was built prior to 1983.

The renovation project will start with the closing of East Ambler-Johnston Hall in the fall to install air conditioning units and new study rooms for students.

It will take two years to complete the renovations of EAJ and one year to complete West Ambler-Johnston.

The closing of EAJ will hurt housing availability for the 2009-10 school year, but with the opening of New Residence Hall West, the problem will be mildly alleviated.

"When East Ambler Johnston closes we will lose 400 beds. But with New Residence West opening up, we will gain 250 beds. Our deficit is only 150 beds," Spencer said.

With final admissions decisions on the incoming freshman class being finalized in the next several months, undergraduate admissions officers are taking the housing issue into consideration.  

"This year we have the same goal that 5,000 freshman students accept our offer of admission to Tech," said Amy Widner, undergraduate admissions spokeswoman. "Offers do not go out until the spring, but we are going to review our offers a little bit more conservatively this year."

Many freshmen were left without residence hall rooms as they began the current school year, a problem that will likely exist for the class of 2013.

Erin Foote, assignments manager of residential programs, believes that many freshmen will again be displaced at the beginning of the fall semester.

"Many freshmen will be placed in temporary housing in the fall," Foote said. "This is nothing new to us. We account for temporary housing every fall. Many of the residential advisors will be placed with freshman roommates for the first few months."

Foote explained that the attrition rate, the rate that students leave Tech for various reasons, plays a major role in the spaces in standard housing that open for freshmen.

"Students leave Tech for many reasons. Some may be for judicial reasons or some students do not feel that Tech is the right fit for them, and that is why spaces open up in standard housing," Foote said.

Foote did not expect as many returning students to want to live on campus again.

"It was a surprise when the numbers went up," Foote said. "We are thrilled that a lot of students want to live on campus, and we would offer a contract to everyone if we could."