For the first time in several years, the College is not expected to have a Fall term housing shortage.
According to Director of Housing Lynn Rosenblum, the waiting list for housing this year is smaller than usual, and she said she is more "optimistic" about the situation than she was at this time last year.
There are currently 34 students on the housing waitlist, in addition to 29 students who have "provisional" housing status. Last year at this time, the waitlist had recently dropped from 150 to 54 students.
Rosenblum said she will not be certain that there will not be a housing shortage until the housing assignments for the Class of 2003 are completed, along with the assignments for exchange and transfer students, who are guaranteed housing for their first year, but does not, however, foresee problems.
"I expect that there will be space left over to take care of [waitlisted and provisional students]," Rosenblum said.
She said she was unsure about the fate of students who applied for housing after the deadline. Rosenblum said those students have been told to contact the Office of Residential Life in early August to find out if they will be assigned a room.
Last fall marked one of the worst housing crunches in the College's recent history. Some students began the Fall term last year housed in converted study lounges in various dormitories. Rosenblum said such measures would not be necessary this year.
"We are working on assignments for the Class of 2003. We expect that the class will be smaller than last year," Rosenblum said. "Additionally, more students will be going on off-campus programs this fall than last fall."
Off-campus programs have been purposely moved to the Fall term in order to alleviate the enrollment problem. According to Assistant Dean of the Faculty and Exchange Coordinator Peter Armstrong, there are now 19 off-campus programs offered this fall, compared to 13 programs last fall.
Armstrong said programs like the Environmental Studies program to Zimbabwe have been moved from the winter to the fall, and the Portuguese program to Brazil has been moved from the spring to the fall in order to accommodate the consistently high Fall term enrollment.
Armstrong said that last fall, 199 students participated in off-campus programs. Because of the increased number of Fall term programs, 295 students are currently signed up to participate in off-campus programs this fall, although Armstrong noted the numbers could decrease if students were to drop out.
The Department of Off-Campus programs recently raised the penalty fee from $150 to $300 to dissuade students from dropping out at the last minute, he said. Armstrong noted that this fee is in line with the housing cancellation fee.
