As Mississippi State University sees record enrollment this year, the on campus residence halls have filled up more quickly, causing many upperclassmen to find alternative housing.
Ann Bailey, Director of Housing and Residence Life, said this has been an issue every year.
“This is the most extreme it has ever been,” she said.
Bailey said the problem was caused because there were a lot of students who wanted to continue to live on campus or return after living off campus and also the large size of the incoming freshman class, which are all guaranteed a place to live.
She said each year the university projects the number of incoming students, and the housing department plan to hold that number of beds. Current residents receive an e-mail about the Student Housing Application Renewal Process in February and are given a window of time to go online and indicate their plans for the next school year.
“It is the same principle as RSVPing for dinner or making a reservation at a hotel,” Bailey said. “If we don’t get the information in time, we run out of space.”
The students who complete this process by April 1 are given priority in housing placement.
“If we had known by the deadline what plans they had, it would have been easier to offer housing on front end instead of back end,” Bailey said.
She said the factors in determining the number of allocated bed spaces for upperclassmen in each residence includes the number of transfers, predicted size of the freshman class and learning communities. A certain number of beds are held specifically for transfer students who indicate they want to live on campus. Learning communities are also allocated a number of beds. Day One was moved to South Hall with its leadership offices on the third floor, and students participating in the program can choose between South, Cresswell and Rice Halls.
Bailey said there is a committee that starts to monitor numbers in January of each year and meet once a month until April. From April until June, it meets twice a month, and after June, they meet once a week until the halls open. The committee consists of representatives from housing, admissions, accounting services and ITS.
Bailey said the total number of students who can be housed on campus is around 4,300.
“Historically, we have housed 20 to 25 percent of total enrollment,” she said.
With the addition of 350 bed spaces this year in South Hall and the conversion of Herbert Hall from guest housing to a residence hall, the problem has been less severe than it could have been. Bailey said as enrollment increases to President Keenum’s goal, a new residence hall is in the future. If plans are on track and get approved, there is a tentative date of opening in 2012.
Bailey said another reason for the shortages is the increase demand as housing gets better.
“Every time we build something, it gets a little bit better,” she said.
Bailey said the dorms have privacy, access to Internet and cable and more places to eat. Students also have the option to ride the shuttle around campus. Housing also has a sliding rate with three categories: premium, renovated and retro. The housing department has a new cable contract this year, giving students more options including high definition channels through Metrocast.
She said most halls are co-residential, but there are still a few single-gender options, such as Sessums for females and Evans and McKee for males. Also, there are apartment-style residence halls, Aiken Village and Arbour Acres, for students who need a 12-month lease and those with families. These are generally for upperclassmen, but can have exceptions occasionally.