The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, April 27, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

With an influx of approximately 2200
entering first-year men and women next
fall and an estimate of saturation in
dormitory housing, the University has
reached a critical point in planning.

Last year's entering class numbered
2005. The housing shortage at that time
necessitated the conversion of dormitory
study rooms into single accommodations
and the filling of all available dormitory
space.

Housing Situation

According to Ralph Main, Director of
Housing, "Our housing situation will
reach its saturation with next year's
entering class; we've faced this situation
before and we'll work it out this fall in
the most efficient way possible."

With approximately 1650 entering
men, the number of women will increase
to nearly 550. In order to cope with this
increase, five Alderman Road dormitories
(Watson, Dobie, Bz, Lile, and Tuttle) will be
combined, while Webb remains all women.

Upperclass Women

All upperclass women will be housed in
either Mary Munford or Gwathmey and in
off-grounds accommodations. Only 26 out of 319
women were refused housing through the
lottery procedure and three women have been
assigned to the West Range.

Of 1004 men that applied through the
lottery, 465 remain unaccommodated. Dunglison,
Courtenay, Fitzhugh, and Dunnington will be
the only upperclass, undergraduate men's
dormitories, while Maupin and the McCormick
dorms will be reserved for first year men.

For those students who have been refused
University housing or who have already planned
to live in off-grounds housing, the problem
becomes increasingly worse. The renting prices
have risen and the scarcity of suitable
accommodations is crucial.

Approximately 360 cottages, 1800
apartments, and 385 rooms have been listed by
the University under the stipulations of a
contract that includes a non-discrimatory
clause, but as usual, by this time of year, most
of these have been rented.

The prices of cottages and privately owned
rooms have remained relatively constant, while
the monthly rental rates on apartments have
jumped ten dollars on the average. According to
area landlords, this increase is primarily due to
a mid-summer rise in interest rates and real
estate taxes.

As stated in a report from the Director of
University Community Realtors, the number of
full-time students occupying University housing
has ranged between 28% and 36% of total
enrollment during the past few years. Of the
University's current total enrollment of about
10,800, approximately 8,700 full-time students
are eligible for University Housing.

About 1,500 married full-time students are
eligible for family housing, and 7,200 single
full-time students are eligible for dormitory
accommodations. The number of students
required to live in the dormitories (this year the
number was 2005) must be subtracted from the
total of about 7,200 single full-time students
eligible for housing and from the current
dormitory capacity of 3,700 in computing the
number of dormitory spaces available for
students choosing to live therein.

This year, volunteer dormitory occupancy
stands at 1,657 (representing 29% of the 5,619
eligible) with only 69 vacancies of which 46
were in McKim Hall. The dormitories currently
house 50% of the single full-time enrollment,
with 2% vacancies. Prospects are for capacity to
drop to 41% of the single full-time enrollment
in 1972, returning to 52% in 1973 (the latter
percentage depends upon construction projects
on Lambeth Field and completion of the
Nursing School apartments).

As yet, no plans for the development of
Lambeth Field have been finalized but
predictions for construction do include some
form of a residential college situation and some
form of apartment type complexes. Werner K.
Sensbach, Director of University Planning,
quoted September of 1973 as the earliest
possible completion date for any construction
on Lambeth Field.

Mr. Sensbach estimated the cost of one
apartment complex housing 300 students at
$1,400,000. He also stated that, even though a
residential college arrangement would cost less
per square foot to build, the cost of land
needed for such an arrangement would put its
total cost above that for apartments.

Mr. Sensbach said that one of the major
set-backs in the planning of Lambeth Field has
been the amount of controversy over the
different planning arrangements being
considered. One of the major factors to be
considered is the feasibility of the living
facilities. The residential college is
well-organized conglomeration of varied
life-styles, offering its own dining facilities and
centrally located lawn area, which lends itself
to a number of academic and social uses - an
almost ideal situation in the eyes of many.

Variety Of Styles

Yet, what is to be said for those students
who prefer the apartment situation with the
added luxury of their own cooking facilities Mr.
Sensbach states in order to please those
students and others with similar tastes, it is
imperative that the University offer a variety of
housing styles.

In a recent Student Council report, the
administration was said to be unresponsive to
the desires of students in its planning of
Lambeth Field. Mr. Sensbach, in trying to
answer this criticism said that only sketches of
the area have been made in order to allocate
ground space and no site or architectural plans
have been finalized.

Students preferences could easily be polled
in a matter of weeks to determine the validity
of the Student Council Report On Housing as it
pertains to a majority of the student's wishes.

With the housing shortage looking more
ominous with every delay, this would appear to
be no time for second guessing student opinion.