17 cozy up in UA study areas pending permanent housing

FAYETTEVILLE — Seventeen students with housing contracts at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville began the fall semester Monday in converted study areas, fewer than last year despite an estimated record-setting freshman class.

“We anticipate having them in permanent spaces by the end of the week,” UA spokesman Christopher Spencer said in an email, explaining that today UA will begin canceling the housing contracts of “no shows.” All 17 students are men living in either Humphreys Hall or Yocum Hall, both coed dormitories.

Approximately 5,015 freshmen started school Monday, including several dozen parttime students, said Suzanne McCray, UA’s vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. Precise enrollment totals will be available after the 11th day of classes. Last fall, the university counted 4,915 first-time, degree-seeking freshmen, according to a UA report.

Most first-year UA students are required to live on campus. Managing the university’s 5,732-bed capacity involves considering new and returning students, said Billy Blount, director of administrative services for UA’s housing department. The gender breakdown of students also plays a role in making room assignments.

To manage demand, UA stopped accepting applications from returning students by mid-April, Blount said. The cutoff was earlier than in recent years, he said.

On the first day of classes last fall, 72 students did not have a permanent room assignment. It took a little over a month for all students to be given assignments, Blount said, with some staying for less than a week in a hotel.

UA last added housing in 2013, about 630 beds with the opening of two residence halls.

In July, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz met with top university housing and finance officials to discuss adding campus housing, but no decisions were made, Laura Jacobs, chief of staff for Steinmetz, has said.

Enrollment at UA increased to 22,159 undergraduates as of last fall, up from 16,794 five years earlier.