Residence halls at the University of Colorado at Boulder are at 101 percent capacity as a near record number of freshman students begin arriving on campus for the start of the fall 1997 semester.
The campusÂ’s 6,000 dormitory spaces in 21 buildings are full to slightly over capacity, according to Ken Kucera, head of the reservations office in the Housing Department at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder. But the crowding should be temporary.
“Typically the situation begins to settle out after the first week of classes as the campus experiences some attrition,” Kucera said.
The first day of classes is Aug. 25, but freshmen begin moving into residence halls on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.
Currently, residence halls are over capacity in rooms for men and women, Kucera said. However, a few rooms may become available for women students the week of Aug. 18.
“On the men’s side, we’re particularly tight. We’ve had to assign some men to lounge setups, but those areas are furnished exactly like a normal dorm room,” he said.
“By using spaces that are normally lounges for this overflow of students, it allows us to get all the students into campus housing, and then they’re the first ones to go into regular rooms as we get cancellations,” he said. “By the first or second week of classes, most should be in regular rooms.”
This fall is shaping up to be an unusual year in terms of the mix of men and women in the residence halls, according to Kucera. More cancellations are coming in from women than from men, which is “highly unusual,” and applications from men and women are almost equal, “also highly unusual,” he said.
Typically, the mix is about 53 percent men and 47 percent women. This year the percentages are moving closer to 50-50, he said.
All of the 21 residence halls on campus are co-ed, and in a normal year about 5,900 of the 6,000 available spaces are filled, Kucera said. “If we get 60 to 70 additional applications, that makes all the difference in the world.”
In addition to the pinch on menÂ’s rooms, about 250 upper-classman transfer students are on a waiting list for dorm rooms. Those students have been notified of the crunch and encouraged to look for off-campus housing.
Freshman students who did not attend orientation over the summer but who are attending orientation Aug. 19 also will begin moving in at 8 a.m. that day. Freshmen who have already gone to orientation will be able to begin moving in at 1 p.m. Aug. 20.
Other major activities during the week before classes begin include:
• Orientation for students who did not attend orientation over the summer, beginning at the University Memorial Center at noon Tuesday, Aug. 19. From noon to 2 p.m., new students will check in and receive a packet of materials directing them to orientation activities with their respective schools and colleges, which begin after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
• A continuation of orientation activities on Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the UMC and several other buildings. Activities will include departmental meetings, curriculum meetings, advising meetings, diversity awareness training and other presentations.
• The annual Chancellor’s Convocation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in Norlin Quadrangle. The program, mandatory for new students, will include presentations by Chancellor Richard Byyny, Boulder Mayor Leslie Durgin, professor Dennis Van Gerven and Jon Cooper, a tri-executive with the University of Colorado Student Union, among others.
The ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Marching Band will perform at the convocation, which will be followed by a barbecue dinner on the Quad.
For additional information on orientation activities, call Will Swentzell or Barbara Margolis at 492-4431.