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NewsvineStanford Housing is really feeling the squeeze this quarter. Campus dorms and houses often get an influx of new residents winter quarter as students return from abroad, but this year Housing Assignment Services has had to cope with an unusually large number of returning students, as well as fewer students leaving their residences after the fall.
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As a result, common areas have been turned into bedrooms, normally unoccupied cottages have been opened for housing, students have been assigned to guest rooms and upperclassmen have moved into graduate dorms.
“We had about 20 to 30 more students than normal need housing this winter than in previous winters, presumably because more students were coming back from overseas,” said Director of Housing Assignment Services Todd Benson. “Although this may not sound like a lot, it is significant, because the housing system is generally full in winter. We also had about 20 to 30 fewer students than usual leave housing at the end of fall. The result of both these was to need to find extra spaces in winter.”
According to Benson, the University added spaces to between 8 and 10 undergraduate residences, with no undergraduate residence increasing in size by more than three students.
In Columbae, a cooperative house where students change rooms every quarter and where this reporter lives, the addition of two unexpected walk-ins forced the house to hold a second rooming meeting to find spots for them.
“The decision was made sort of by fiat, but we dealt with it,” said Columbae Resident Assistant Vince Dorie, a master’s student in biomedical informatics. “I do think that the places that were most flexible got the most screwed. Housing knows that Columbae and Synergy switch rooms every quarter, so they think it’s easy to cram two extra people in there.”
Kairos is one cooperative house that has been affected by University housing crunches in the past, with its pool room sometimes converted into a residence.
“It was a possibility, and that worried me somewhat, both because it would be noisy and draft space for new residents, and because it would cut down on common space for the rest of the house,” said Kairos RA Emily Navarrette, a senior.
However, Kairos’ population only grew from 32 to 33, an increase accommodated by a room that had been empty during the fall.
“The Row office really communicated honestly and thoroughly with me during the whole process of the possible uprates, and I was able to keep our staff informed as well,” Navarette said. “I’m thankful that we didn’t have to convert our common space, but I understand that the University was in a somewhat desperate position.”
Senior Katie Justus also had few complaints about the University’s solutions. As a senior at the meeting for female walk-ins — students not assigned to housing through the regular Draw — Justus had priority for a single in the Crothers Hall. Now, Justus says she does not regret her decision to live in what is normally all-graduate housing.
“It’s totally awesome,” she said. “It’s really close to everything, and I have a huge single. None of my neighbors come by to visit me, so I actually get work done. My only complaint is that I have to walk a mile and a half to the laundry.”
Things initially seemed less rosy for junior Richard Vaughn, who said that he had not been told to register for the winter housing draw or to sign up in advance for the male walk-in meeting. As a result, Vaughn was ranked 68th out of the 69 students in attendance.
“When it got to me, there were a few spots available but they all sucked, so I decided to wait a few days,” Vaughn said. He spent two or three days living in a local motel before accepting a spot in Synergy.
“The biggest problem is that when people are abroad they don’t give you info, especially when you come back mid-year,” Vaughn said, but he added that most of his housing difficulties arose from “my personal problems” rather than the housing crunch.
And despite the problems, Benson said he had not heard any serious complaints or concerns.