More UMaine Students Choosing On-Campus Housing; High Demand Among Returning Students
Contact: Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Residence halls at the University of Maine will come alive with activity on Friday, when new first-year students move in as part of UMaine’s acclaimed “Maine Hello” student greeting and orientation program.
Again this year, UMaine’s residence halls will be at capacity, with a projected 3,777 students living on campus.
Room reservations for the 2003-2004 academic year show a dramatic increase in the number of returning students, a total of 2,113, in on-campus housing. That represents a 17 percent increase (307 students) in returning students choosing the on-campus housing option compared to one year ago.
Richard D. Chapman, UMaine’s vice president for student affairs, says this is a positive development. Although there are many reasons for it, he says, the primary one is that students recognize the value of on-campus living.
“Experience is telling these students that life in residence halls provides more opportunities to experience the wide range of services and activities that are available to student members of this community,” he says. “There are also noteworthy advantages in terms of academics, health and safety, and the logistics of managing the busy life of a college student.”
All told, the number of on-campus residents this year will be approximately 220 higher than last fall. Capacity has been added by last January’s opening of Edith Patch Hall and by reducing the number of “large single” rooms available to students. Those are rooms designed for two residents in which students were allowed to live alone by paying a higher rate.
Renovations are nearly complete at Balentine Hall, which will be home to 79 students. If that building is not ready for occupancy by Friday, those students will be temporarily housed at York Village. An additional 60-70 students will begin the year living in York Village. Those students will be assigned to permanent residence hall spaces in the early weeks of the fall semester, after the normal shrinkage in the on-campus residence population that occurs when students either elect not to begin classes or decide to live elsewhere. At that time, York Village will no longer be used as a residence facility.
“Recent trends have indicated a greater interest in on-campus residency, so we have been planning for this high demand,” says Robin Toderian, UMaine’s executive director of Student Auxiliary Services. “Through online
application and other means, we have been able to increase efficiency and maximize the available resources.
We were able to give returning students their room assignments before they left in the spring and to tell incoming first-year students where they would be living when they were on campus for summer orientation.”
Students who applied for housing after June 1 were put on a waiting list and assigned to rooms as they became available.
In keeping with its long-standing practice, UMaine will not assign three students to any room designed for two. It is possible that a small number of students who applied for housing late in the summer will not be accommodated at the beginning of the semester.
“Full residence halls are one indicator of a diverse and dynamic university community,” Chapman says. “We look forward to students and staff members working together during this academic year to further enhance and develop the unique community in which we study, live and work.”