In an effort to improve undergraduate students’ residential experiences, the University unveiled yesterday a proposal that would fundamentally change the undergraduate housing system in coming years.

The changes will provide 650 new bed spaces for undergraduates, more all-freshman housing, fewer occupants per room in several residences and a Housing Draw that places greater emphasis on seniority.

The proposal, entitled “Improving Undergraduate Housing at Stanford,” was authored by Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education John Bravman, who presented it twice yesterday afternoon, to the University Board of Trustees and to the ASSU executives.

The plan would be implemented over the next two to six years, depending on construction timelines and the University’s ability to raise enough funds.

However, Bravman said that nothing in the proposal is final and that decisions will not be made before feedback is collected from students and other community members, a process that could take months or even years.

“I expect it will be a vigorous and honest debate that takes into account the interests of the University at large,” he said in an interview with The Daily. “I’m hoping to avoid flame-wars on e-mail chat lists and angry letters to The Daily.”

Because the changes would relocate Ujamaa House, from Lagunita to possibly Florence Moore Hall, Bravman met with residents for an hour and a half on Monday night to go over the proposal.

He told The Daily that the proposed changes to housing would:

• Meet demands for more all-freshman housing: Bravman said that last year, 300 to 400 incoming students who listed a preference for all-freshman housing were put elsewhere. He also said he believes that most freshmen are better served by all-freshman housing. Bravman’s proposal would turn the dorms in Wilbur, Stern and Florence Moore complexes, except for theme dorms, into all-freshman housing.

• Create more desirable upperclass housing: The proposal would convert Branner, Toyon, Roble and Lagunita, “the four largest and most elegant undergraduate residence halls,” as described in the proposal, for upper-class use.

• Restore academic program spaces to residences: “Students tell us all the time they don’t have space to study in their dorms,” Bravman said. The proposal would create, through reorganization and construction, more study and seminar spaces in residences all over campus.

• “Un-stuff” crowded dorm rooms: Room occupancies would be decreased at several residences on campus. For example, Roble quads would become doubles, and the Mirrielees apartments would go back to housing two people instead of three.

• Simplify the Housing Draw along fairer lines: Bravman called the current Housing Draw a “labyrinthine” system that can result in some students living in Bob or Xanadu, popular Row houses, for three years and other students living in Wilbur all four years. The proposal calls for “generally escalating quality of housing over the course of a student’s time at Stanford.”

According to Bravman, the University has been looking into ways to bring “systemic change” to its residence program since 1997 when it received sweeping recommendations from the Task Force on Residential Programs and Student Housing.

However, some of the more far-reaching recommendations were set aside because 650 more undergraduate bed spaces would be needed to implement them.

Last winter, the University secured a donation from Charles Munger for a large-scale graduate housing project, which enabled Bravman to gain a commitment from the University to open up the Crothers and Crothers Memorial residences for undergraduate housing — which would provide an extra 360 bed spaces.

To bridge the remaining gap between needed and available beds, Bravman went to the University administration and obtained support for the construction of new housing structures.

One of the main hurdles facing Bravman’s proposal is obtaining the necessary funding. At around $100,000 per bed space, Bravman provided a rough estimate of $30 to $35 million for the new housing alone. The University will also need several million more dollars to refit the Crothers residences for undergraduates.

This funding must come either from the University budget or, most likely, from an outside donor.

Bravman emphasized that the University would not pass on the cost of new housing students. He said the search for outside donors has already started, but he noted the difficulty of finding people who are willing to make large contributions specifically toward housing.

Before anything is finalized, Bravman said that the University would take time to bring both students and the ASSU to the table for discussion.

“It’s going to be a big, big multi-year effort,” he said.

To this end, Director of Residential Education Jane Camarillo said her organization “will provide recommendations on the different populations of student representatives who should be engaged in the next phase of planning.”