The Department of Housing and Residence Life proposed a plan last week to the Student Government Association Student Affairs committee that would set the numbers of each class to be housed on campus.
    For the 2003-2004 academic year, 2,440 freshmen must be housed, according to the Draft Proposal. To provide space for these freshmen, 1,750 sophomores, the current freshmen class, will be guaranteed housing, along with 700 juniors and seniors.
    After the 700 junior and seniors are assigned through a lottery, any additional students will be put on a waiting list. Once all sophomore needs are met, juniors and seniors on the waiting list will fill any remaining spaces, according to the plan.
    Sophomores can live with seniors and juniors in Winkler and Newland residence halls, if the junior or senior is chosen in the lottery. Seniors and juniors cannot live with a sophomore in a traditional residence hall, according the special notes section of the draft proposal.
    The Department of Housing and Residence Life would like to remove the reclaiming process permanently, putting all students in a lottery every year, said Amy E. Greer, director of Student Affairs for SGA.
    “[Removing the reclaiming process] is a ridiculous idea,” said Christopher J. Smith, a SGA senator from Winkler Residence Hall.
    Smith, a freshman pre-law and communications major from Winston-Salem, was placed into a single room in Winkler at the beginning of the year. He was given the option of paying the extra money for the room or moving out once another room became available.
    “I chose to pay the extra money in part because I could reclaim my room next year,” Smith said. “There was a verbal contract that if I paid the extra money, I could reclaim my room.”
    The Student Affairs Committee suggested that students in Winkler, Newland and Appalachian Heights be allowed to reclaim their rooms in groups of four, and then any available spaces be used for the lottery.
    The Student Affairs Committee also suggested preventing sophomores from reclaiming their old room, with all sophomores put in a lottery for spaces in traditional residence halls.
    Of the 4,828 students who currently live in residence halls, 90 students are in overflow housing, according to the draft proposal. The Department of Housing and Residence Life expects to house 4,890 students next year.
    Representatives from the Department of Housing and Residence Life declined to comment on specific matters within the draft proposal.
    The Student Affairs Committee was told that plans to gut and renovate Doughton Residence Hall, after the Living and Learning Center residents are moved, are still in place.
    If the draft proposal is approved as is, 603 current freshman and 1,571 current sophomores and juniors must move to off-campus housing to prevent any students from being on a waiting list. These figures do not take into consideration any seniors who may not graduate after the spring semester.
    The current number of students living off campus was not available, but the three major apartment rentals companies, Appalachian South Apartments, Holton Mountain Rentals and University Highlands Student Apartments currently have a lack of available housing.
    Appalachian South has three units available for rent, said Renee Ward, president of Appalachian South Apartments. Holton Mountain Rentals has eight units available, said Wendy Williams, a secretary at Holton. University Highlands Student Apartments has six bedrooms available, said Ron Branch, manager of the apartment complex.
    All three companies have no plans to build additional units.
    “I would not build a new unit in this town for nothing,” Ward said. “Boone is too difficult to deal with.”
    Junior and senior resident assistants and their roommates will not be affected by the plan, as the draft proposal includes 100 students in that group to be housed.
    Newland Residence Hall will be filled after Appalachian Heights is full and the Department of Housing and Residence Life knows the number of students living in Winkler.
    Winkler and Newland will house 76 juniors and seniors. Currently 162 juniors and seniors live in Winkler and Newland, said Stacy Sears, assistant director of the Department of Housing and Residence Life.
    Sears said Rick L. Geis, director of Housing and Residence Life, and she would be meeting with both Robert K. Feid, associate vice chancellor for Student Development, and Dr. Gregory S. Blimling, vice chancellor for Student Development, before finalizing the plan.
    The plan will be finalized by Nov. 8, Sears said.