FAYETTEVILLE -- More than 200 students who have paid upfront housing costs remain without room assignments days before the official move-in begins at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
The crunch for space has become common in recent years because of enrollment growth. UA handles the space shortage in part by converting study rooms into housing quarters. An under-construction residence hall expected to open in fall 2019 will be the first new UA dorm since 2013.
Florence Johnson, UA's top housing official, said fewer students than those now without assignments will actually start the year in temporary quarters. The first day of fall semester classes at UA is Aug. 20, with move-in taking place this weekend for many students.
"There is always some that will end up not coming. So, the number of students in overflow will [be] much smaller," Johnson said in a statement.
Official move-in dates for the general student population are Saturday and Monday, with band and sorority move-in dates beginning today.
The university has a total student-bed capacity of 5,726, according to data published online. The total does not include housing at fraternity and sorority houses.
UA officials have in the past explained that the 5,726 figure only reflects rooms built to house students, while other other rooms are considered flexible enough to also serve as living quarters. Factors like the gender of students also can affect whether there are room assignments available, UA officials have said.
As of Wednesday, Johnson said "approximately" 210 students -- mostly new freshman -- were without room assignments despite their anteing up $245 advance payments for housing.
She said UA's "overflow accommodations" for temporary housing assignments "will provide the same amenities as a designated student room making sure they can get off to a good academic start." When a room opens up, the university provides assistance to help the students move, Johnson added. She is UA's assistant vice chancellor for university housing.
The university has a total of 5,800 housing contracts with students as of Wednesday, Johnson said, 23 fewer than the same time last year.
UA generally requires single freshmen under 21 years of age to live on campus in a residence hall.
Out of the total housing contracts, 4,678 are for new freshmen and 919 are for returning students, Johnson said. Another 203 are classified as other, Johnson said, and are mostly new transfer students.
As of Monday, 355 new freshmen were expected to begin the year living off campus, at home with their families, Johnson said.
Last fall UA enrolled its largest freshman class ever of 5,065 first-time, degree-seeking students.
Suzanne McCray, UA's top admissions official, said in an email that this year's freshman class "will be approximately 5,000 students, very similar to last year."
A freshman class of 5,000 would be an increase of about 15 percent compared with the 4,339 freshmen who enrolled in fall 2013.
In fall 2013, about 630 beds were added with the opening of six-story, 214-bed Founders Hall and a remodeled building known as Hotz Hall, which now has a listed capacity of 416 residents.
The Stadium Drive residence halls, under construction, will house 710 students, the university announced last year.
Johnson did not respond Wednesday to a question submitted through a spokesman about any residence halls closing, so it's unclear how many beds the Stadium Drive residence hall project will add to UA's housing capacity.
In 2016, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said the Stadium Drive project would end up adding about 500 beds to capacity as there were plans to convert two existing residence halls, Gladson-Ripley and Buchanan-Droke, into office space.
Metro on 08/09/2018