At the start of the spring 2009 semester, more than 200 students were living in forced triples. One year later, all of the temporary triples from fall 2009 have already been broken up, and some students are finding themselves living in a single room.
Each fall semester, incoming students are placed into temporary triples to ensure that Residential Life is able to find housing for those who wish to live on the Binghamton University campus, and accidental singles are the first places Residential Life looks when they need to break these triples up.
Accidental single rooms occur when a student does not show up for school in the fall and does not alert the University.
“We know that in the first month of school we will get people who don’t show up, and if someone doesn’t show up then there are accidental singles where we detriple to,” Grace Hoefner, senior associate director of Residential Life, said.
However, students also have the opportunity to request a single room in the spring semester for an additional cost.
Paid singles are available all year in the apartment communities, Hillside and Susquehanna, but are only available in the other communities for the spring semester.
The cost for a student who wishes to live alone is about $4,974, compared to $3,273 for a bed in a double shared with another student.
“We have over 100 vacancies this spring semester so there is room for people to move around if they so choose, and if people want a room change they should get on the wait list to do so,” Hoefner said.
Students who wish to move must do so quickly as the deadline for room changes for this spring semester is Feb. 26.
Although Gail Glover, spokeswoman for BU, said that it is too early for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to determine enrollment numbers for next year at this time, admissions and Residential Life are working together to ensure that there will be no overcrowding.
Residential Life is planning to have around 100 temporary triples for the fall 2010 semester, according to Hoefner.
“We estimate that the numbers will be similar to last year [fall 2009]; we are taking in a class of about 3,000 students,” Glover said. “Our Residential Life staff and admissions representatives work very closely and meet regularly. They also update one another frequently to ensure that both groups can plan accordingly.”
Housing sign-up for returning students begins in March, and the deadline to pay the housing deposit to secure a room for next year is Feb. 22.
After all returning students have been placed in housing, Residential Life will begin to process new student housing.