The averted housing crisis of fall is resulting in the review of College policies that have allowed larger enrollments during the Fall term than other terms.
During the summer the College's Enrollment Committee established an ad-hoc group of students, faculty and administrators that will begin work shortly to discuss permanent ways to alleviate the Fall term housing crunch. The committee should complete its recommendations by November.
There are more than 100 additional students enrolled this fall than last fall, when a less severe housing crisis forced some students to spend the first few days of the term housed in converted study lounges.
With this year's freshman class smaller than last year's, administrators attribute the increase in enrollment to an increase in the percentage of juniors on campus this fall.
Sixty three percent of the Class of 1996 are taking courses this fall compared to 53 percent of last year's junior class, according to the Registrar's Office; 70 percent of the Class of 1997 plan to take classes as juniors next Fall.
The committee is comprised of many of the College's top administrators, including Associate Dean of Faculty Peter Armstrong, Associate Dean of Residential Life Bud Beatty, Registrar Thomas Bickel, Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg, Dean of Faculty James Wright and Dean of the College Lee Pelton.
Furstenberg, when asked to account for the increase in enrollment, said "The biggest single factor is the [Dartmouth Plan]. In addition to that, this year there seems to be less interest in off-campus programs."
The committee will examine the Dartmouth Plan and perhaps suggest modifications.
Until five years ago, the College required students to be off campus during one of their four Fall terms, Bickel said.
At the time, students had to petition the College for an exception to the policy. Bickel said the system was eliminated because it seemed unnecessary at the time.
While ORL Housing Assignments Coordinator Lynn Rosenblum is not on the housing committee, she said she thinks the committee will discuss possible changes to the D-Plan.
"I don't know what kinds of things will be on the table. I would hope that the D-Plan would be one of the things that would be on the table," she said.
Bickel said he could not identify a single reason for the popularity of Fall term this year but speculated that students had a variety of reasons.
In terms of admission, Furstenberg said "the fluctuation in numbers is a function of the size of the classes already here ... this year, we lowered the target for freshmen and took fewer transfer students."
Furstenberg said the number of students admitted to the College each year has fluctuated within the range of 1040 and 1080, but has remained relatively constant.
"I would say that admissions is a minor if not insignificant factor in housing," Furstenberg said.
The target number of students in the Class of 1998 was 1060 while the target for the Class of 1997 was 1070, he said.
There are 1057 people in the class of '98 and 1087 people in the class of '97. Thirty transfer students were admitted this year in comparison to 45 last year, he said.
"If we hadn't decreased the admissions target for the class of '98, there would have been a bigger problem. Admissions is the only thing you can control," he said.
Furstenberg pointed to course offerings, rush, homecoming and the weather as possible incentives for students to be on-campus in the fall.
He also said the increasing geographic diversity of students has brought more students from warmer areas of the country who might prefer fall weather to winter.
In addition, Furstenberg said there are 75 fewer people on off-campus programs this year compared to last year.
While the obvious solution to a housing crisis is to build a new dorm, Director of Facilities Planning Gordon DeWitt said it may not be the best financial option.
But he said if the College builds another dorm, it will be vacant in the winter and spring and it "would run into a questionable financial situation."
"It would be like building an apartment and only renting it out for three months out of the year," he said.
The new dorm would have 80 beds at a cost of $50,000 per bed for a total cost of $4 million.
But a housing crunch is not the only possible effect of greater enrollment. Repercussions from having more students on campus could spread beyond housing to class sizes and the dining halls.
"Lunch is going to be the problem," said Director of Dining Services Pete Napolitano. "There might be some overcrowding in some of the dining halls at some of the key periods, 12:20, 1:30, but other than that I don't see it as being a big problem," he said.
