More than three years after the Board of Trustees took a number of steps that were, in part, designed to alleviate overcrowding in campus dormitories, students and administrators are still grappling with the problem.
In 1993, the trustees approved a $12.7 million proposal to build new dormitories on East Campus, and they passed a new residential plan in 1995, which stated that "crowding-temporary doubles and triples-will be minimized."
But Bill Burig, assistant dean of student development, said that as of Nov. 19 only 139 spaces are available for the 350 students currently studying abroad who have requested housing for next semester. If the numbers do not change appreciably in the next few weeks, administrators will have to expand West Campus dormitory rooms to accommodate the returning students.
"There has been some [overcrowding] in the past," Burig said, "but never to the magnitude that we're experiencing."
Administrators anticipated last spring that overcrowding might be a problem, Burig said, after they received study abroad figures for the fall of 1996 which revealed that this fall's study abroad total was significantly greater than last year. As a result, all West Campus residents who live in expandable singles or doubles were recently warned by housing officials concerning the possibility that their rooms may be expanded. Although no action will be taken until housing requests by returning students are confirmed, administrators are considering a number of options to prevent overcrowding.
Reducing the three-year housing requirement or granting more exceptions to students who desire to live off campus are two of the options being considered, said Janet Dickerson, vice president for student affairs.
"Many decisions and policy changes need to be examined concurrently," Dickerson said, "so that we do not have changes that create new, unanticipated consequences for the system."
Administrators have also considered the option of assigning students to converted study rooms to relieve the immediate problem, Dickerson said. Although such an option is not desirable, she said it is a "real" alternative to crowding students on West Campus. And because there are not enough spaces on East, North or Central Campuses to remedy the housing crunch, Dickerson continued, West Campus is the only on-campus option available to returning students.
The residential plan, which assigned the entire freshman class to East Campus, left administrators with fewer options to deal with overcrowding. Many upperclassmen opted to move off campus immediately after the plan was passed, but Burig said this trend has begun to wear off. The overcrowded situation is likely to be exacerbated next fall when the Class of 2000-which is larger than anticipated-moves to West Campus.
"Overcrowding was supposed to be reduced, but it was never addressed in the residential plan," Burig said. "The residential plan was more of a philosophical statement."
John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs, acknowledged that minimizing room expansion was part of the residential plan, but he added that-until the housing office has definite numbers-it is too early to say that the plan has failed.
The influx of returning students has forced students to confront the choice between accepting an expanded room or moving off campus. Frustratingly for students, however, they must make their decision to move off campus by Dec. 1-well before the housing office informs them about the status of their room. Faced with this catch-22, students argue that they are being forced to move off campus.
Nevertheless, Burig said that expanding rooms is justified. "The rooms have a maximum capacity of 2 or 3 people," he said. "We know that it's tight, but it's still an appropriate assignment."
Although Burig deems these assignments "appropriate," said Trinity senior Takcus Nesbit, president of Duke Student Government, the mere threat of expansion might motivate students to move off campus-which would help to solve the overcrowding problem.
"While the University has a commitment to provide students with on-campus housing," Nesbit said, "this may be a self-correcting problem."
Burig said that 71 students currently on campus are still unsure about their plans for next semester, and more students who are abroad might discover their placement and decide to move off campus.
Christa Johns, assistant dean for study abroad programs, said that 332 students are returning next semester from abroad as opposed to 287 students who returned from abroad in the spring of 1996. She added that only 150 students are planning to go abroad next spring, as opposed to 189 last year. Dickerson noted that the prospect of an exciting basketball season may have served as a factor in students' decisions not to go abroad next semester.
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