The October deadline for the completion of the New Village housing has left the students who were assigned to these residence halls asking many questions, such as when each dorm will open and how different aspects of the temporary housing plan are going to work.

Jennifer Crane, an assistant director of Residential Life, said that the Residential Life staff does not at this time have the exact opening dates for each individual New Village house. The reason, she explained, is that the construction is still several months away from completion.

While learning the expected opening dates of the individual houses is important to the students who have been assigned to them, the main question on many students’ minds pertains to temporary housing. Students who will be temporarily hosting the New Village students want to know if extra beds will be placed in their rooms. Also, students who will be living in New Village would like to know with whom they will be placed.

For the duration of the temporary housing, extra beds will be placed into rooms, Crane said. These beds should not be a long-term issue for the hosting students, as they should be removed once the students move in to their New Village dorms, she said.

The students will be placed temporarily in Mountainview, Dana and the New Village houses that will already be completed at the beginning of the fall semester. However, according to Crane, at this time Residential Life has not yet determined which individual rooms in those residence halls each student will be placed in.

Crane said that the situation regarding the temporary housing is still in the planning stages, though university officials are beginning to know the order that students will be moved in to the new residence halls.

“We have committed to moving the Village residents from Mountainview first,” Crane said. “We are fine-tuning the logistics of the temporary assignments.”

Crane explained that the process of constructing and assigning new dorms is complicated and that the temporary housing cannot be fully worked out until all students are assigned to their rooms in the New Village.

“The process of building a new residence hall and assigning rooms is not a simple task,” Crane said. “It is not until everyone is assigned during placement that we can make decisions about the New Village. This is due to factors such as the gender breakdown of the suites and the order in which construction of suites will be completed.”

The Residential Life staff realizes the aggravation that the new housing situation is causing students, she said. The staff is working to help the students affected by the construction to have as smooth a transition as possible, she said.

“We certainly understand the depth of frustration this can have for the students involved,” Crane said. “As soon as the Department of Residential Life is aware of updates in construction, we will communicate to the students that are affected by this.”