Campus Council members discussed residence hall renovations for East and West campuses at the Council's general body meeting Thursday.
"The majority of the residence halls on West have been in need of renovation for some time now," said Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services.
Hull said it is highly probable that the University will help pay for the next round of renovations-estimated to cost more than $100 million-but no final decisions have been made.
"We have a total of 54,000 bed spaces, we could tag [the cost] on to the rent," he joked.
Residential Life and Housing Services had hoped to begin renovations next summer, but Hull said plans for the project are still in the works. He added, however, that he is confident renovations will begin during the summer of 2008.
Because RLHS is an auxiliary department, it does not receive any funding from the University, Hull said.
He added that the University recognizes it is not practical for RLHS to fund renovations and residence hall upkeep from rental revenues.
The upcoming renovations will begin with Crowell Quadrangle, followed by Craven Quadrangle, Few Quadrangle, Southgate Dormitory and Gilbert-Addoms Dormitory.
RLHS and the University are still in the process of determining how to conduct the renovations, Hull said.
Campus Council Vice President Chris Hopper, a junior, asked how RLHS plans to compensate for the loss of bed spaces due to renovations.
"In providing students with contemporary configurations, we will lose bed spaces," Hull said. "How many we lose is being looked at carefully."
He said RLHS is planning to use Central Campus to absorb some of the loss. Hull noted, however, that Central will also lose some of its bed spaces due to renovations.
"We will most likely have a period of temporary net bed loss," he said. "Housing does not decide how that is dealt with-the institute will decide."
Facilities and Services Chair Hasnain Zaidi, a junior, questioned Hull regarding the timeline for developments on Central.
"We shouldn't hold our breath for Central," Zaidi said.
But Hull said he is not "obsessed" with keeping a timeline.
"I've worked on enough projects to know that all is very dynamic until actual construction takes place," he said. "Central is an incredible project... and we should take whatever time necessary to get it right."
Hull said that RLHS hopes to provide great flexibility in residential spaces to accommodate future changes in the function of the halls.
"It's a transformative process," he said. "We want the form to meet the function it needs to serve."
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