The deadline to enter the housing lottery is drawing closer, and students will face a number of changes in the process this year.

According to Executive Director of Housing Rodger Whitney, at the end of Autumn Quarter 2008, Crothers and Crothers Memorial will be closed for a nine-month renovation project. The project will culminate in the dormitories becoming undergraduate buildings, part of the Housing Master Plan.

“Graduate students in these buildings will be reassigned to Munger and other University-assigned housing,” he said. “But [they] will be guaranteed the same rent for the remainder of their Crothers or Crothers Memorial contract.”

Whitney said that additional housing will be provided at low cost to replace the options lost when Crothers and Crothers Memorial Halls are closed to graduate students.

“These will include renovation of the Blackwelder Apartments into two-bedroom efficiency apartments,” he said. “We also will be adjusting rents for some apartment types to be sure we are meeting the needs of graduate students who depend upon the low cost option of Crothers and Crothers Memorial.”

Director of Housing Assignments Sue Nunan said in an email to The Daily that Xanadu will also be closed in the fall.

“Xanadu is undergoing renovation this summer and autumn and is not a choice for autumn assignments,” she said. “Given the past popularity of this house, this may change cutoff numbers for other locations on campus.”

The closing of residences is not the only change to the Draw process. Perhaps the biggest initiative is the much touted gender-neutral housing pilot program option available for both undergraduate and graduate students. The program will affect a portion of rooms in Narnia, Terra, Castano, Mirrielees and Rains.

A number of more minor changes will also have an effect on students. For both undergraduate students and graduate students, the number of choices on the housing application has been expanded from eight to sixteen.

“This increase will allow students more control of their housing choices,” Whitney said. “Also, undergraduate students now have a single application deadline of May 4 but will be able to change their housing location choices through May 11. This is easier for students to understand than having a separate group and individual deadline.”

Whitney also said that graduate students will be allowed to apply in mixed-gender draw groups and use group retention like undergraduates currently do.

Nunan said that modifications to the Draw process could lead to changes in demand for certain housing locations across campus.

“Students have sixteen choices, which could change the demand for certain housing locations,” she said. “Zapata is changing to its original configuration of traditional double rooms in September and Serra is changing in January. These rooms were downgraded to singles during the most intense period of construction on the Munger construction site but will now be returning to normal occupancy. This will most likely result in a change in demand for these housing locations. The new gender-neutral housing locations may increase the popularity of some buildings depending upon demand.”

Following this year’s housing lottery, Whitney said, the University will remain committed to improving the process for students. Stanford will convene a Draw Review Task Force in the spring to develop “streamlined housing assignment protocols and policies for undergraduate students in support of the Housing Master Plan.”

Whitney will chair this review committee, and Senior Associate Vice Provost of Residential and Dining Enterprises Shirley Everett will convene the task force.

“The recommendations of the task force will be implemented in the 2008-2009 draw process,” Whitney said. “The task force will be reviewing topics such as special priorities, the in-house draw processes, allocation of space in the master plan, methods to simplify the draw and new enhancements available through enhanced technology, among several other topics.”

The deadline to apply for the undergraduate Draw and get a first round number is Sunday, May 4 at 6 p.m.