If you thought the housing application and lottery system was complicated before, the addition of Nelson Hall promises to add confusion to the housing process, in addition to more and better space, according to Deborah Tyson, director of Housing Operations.

Nelson Hall will open its doors for students next fall, and many students are hoping for rooms in the new dorm. Sophomores will begin the clamoring Friday and upperclassmen will follow Tuesday, as the Department of Residence says it will try to match students’ needs and wishes.

Next year’s housing fees will increase by 7 percent because of the tuition increase.

The year following the opening of Nelson Hall, music and law students from the Park Hill campus will move to the main campus, causing a further increase in the need for living space.

The new dorm will have five floors of living space. The first four floors are reserved for sophomores and the fifth floor will house upperclassmen.

The two-year-live in requirement will still be in effect, so more space and first choice will go to sophomores, but the new dorm will open up space for upperclassmen and graduate students in other on-campus housing.

Inside Nelson Hall, sophomores will live in suites that include of a bathroom and a Microfridge. There will be kitchens on each of the first four floors. Upperclassmen apartments on the fifth floor will include a living room and a kitchen.

Other amenities in the new dorm will include a central courtyard, a dining hall and an outdoor eating area. Students will be able to park in the two-story parking garage underneath the dorm, which will accommodate 220 parking spaces.

The availability of singles will increase with the addition of Nelson Hall, but the number will still be limited because the university needs to assure the “viable financial return” of the new dorm, said Tyson.

More resident assistants will also be needed to staff the five new floors.

Also, one full-time resident director and one graduate resident director will be employed as authority figures in Nelson Hall.

Presently, there are two resident directors in Centennial Towers, the current primary underclassman dorm.

Graduate students will experience change in the housing they are accustomed to.

One way that the Department of Residence intends to encourage them is to increase the time of their housing contracts. Currently graduate students sign contracts for the academic year, in the same way that undergraduates do.

The new system will require them to sign contracts for 11 months. Attempts will be made to match graduate housing prices with those of the surrounding commercial housing areas. This will go into effect this summer.