Current sophomores and juniors may have to start house hunting for next year soon due to a lack of on-campus living accommodations.
Next year’s juniors and seniors may have a harder time finding an on-campus residence or apartment spot as a result of this year’s large incoming class and a planned demolition of Skyline apartment building.
Skyline Hall, now an on-campus apartment complex for juniors and seniors, will be demolished sometime this fall. Students currently living in Skyline are being forced to move out by the end of summer. According to Chris George, assistant director of housing and residence, current residents of Skyline will most likely will move into either Aspen or Hilltop apartments. All Skyline residents who want to be accommodated for the next year will be, he said.
DU housing policy prioritizes sophomores before upperclassmen because of the two-year, live-on-campus requirement. Juniors and seniors are free to live off campus.
To help with the situation, DU plans to make apartments in La Chateau available for upperclassmen in addition to the 90 graduate students that currently live there. George said that not as many upperclassmen will live in Centennial Towers or Nelson Hall because of the large number of current freshmen that will need to be accommodated there next year.
“In the short term, the changes will make it tough on the campus community. It will be hard for people who want a four-year living experience to have it now,” George said. “It will be a little sacrifice now to get the end goal that we want.”
Currently, there are 2,050 students on campus that fill every free residence space. Next year, the number will drop to 2,000 students. However, after the completion of the new residence hall, scheduled to open in 2007, 300 more students will be accommodated.
Aspen Apartments and Pioneer Hall will be demolished to create room for the new residence hall.
This year, the Housing and Residence Department had a difficult time dealing with the request for on-campus living of study abroad students. “The problem is that there is no transition. Most juniors who study abroad leave in the fall. They don’t leave in the winter,” said George. When these juniors returned in January, there was no space available. Students will face the same problem next year.
George suggests students plan ahead for next year’s housing. Students who will study abroad in the fall should decide in April or May what to do.
Additionally, George suggested various off-campus living opportunities. If students really want to live on-campus, they need to be as flexible as possible in requesting living space.
“Many students only want one option, like a one-bedroom apartment. Nine times of 10, we’d be able to accommodate if they were more flexible,” George said.
