Even with the construction of two new dorms set to begin in December, Virginia Tech may fall short on housing options in coming years.

The construction of the dorms will be synchronized with the closings of East and West Ambler Johnson, which are scheduled to undergo major renovations. East AJ will close first in the summer of 2009, just as the construction of the first new dorm finishes. West AJ is scheduled to close in the summer of 2011, just as the renovations for East AJ and the construction of the second new dorm finishes.

Although the opening of the new dorms will alleviate many occupancy issues caused by the closing of AJ's wings, each of the new dorms will only hold 250 beds, while East and West AJ hold 406 and 882 beds, respectively. Edward Spencer, associate vice president of student affairs, acknowledged that there would be a loss of occupancy space during these renovations. However, he also said that after all construction and renovations are finished, occupancy will have grown by 500.

The question about where incoming and returning students will be housed remains unanswered. On-campus housing is only guaranteed to incoming freshmen; however, many non-freshmen students choose to remain on campus, submitting themselves to the lottery system and hoping for the best.

"We try to keep supply and demand about equal, but we can suddenly receive a large incoming class one year, which is difficult to predict," Spencer said.

Providing students with housing was an issue this semester. Spencer attributed the hous- ing troubles to the large freshman class and the waiver given as a result of April 16, which allowed students who would have normally been suspended last spring due to academic deficiency.

"Normally, we'll lose 125 to 135 students during the summer," Spencer said. "We count those offers and make decisions based upon that."

Students who do not win the lottery and are denied on-campus housing will have to move off campus. Tim Gift, associate director of facili- ties, said there would be no alternative housing provided by the university.

Another housing issue lies in the ability of construction to stay on schedule. The university counts on construction being done on schedule to be able to provide students with housing.

"We always worry about staying on time," said Hugh Latimer, the Tech campus planning architect. "We do a lot of things to stay on track and keep on top of it. Everybody's used to doing it, we just make it happen."

Construction planners have allowed for flow time at the beginning of the project, in case problems arise that may impede the process. Due to the smaller size of the new buildings and an efficient schedule, Latimer said he expects construction to stay on time.

While the commencement of construction and renovations approaches, the guarantee of on-campus housing diminishes, and Tech students may want to consider this when they look at their housing options.