After opening at 100 percent capacity, residence halls are starting to return to a normal capacity.
CE: DB
HED: Housing problems starting to correct themselves
More first-year students came to Athens this year than ever before, which left Ohio University officials scrambling for places for them to sleep.
There were 37 male students placed with a resident assistant when they first moved to campus; an unknown number of students were made to live in triples due to overcrowding; and about 50 students are living in makeshift dorm rooms originally intended as lounge space — including up to five students in one room.
As students don’t show up or leave, the problem is correcting itself. No students are still assigned to live with RAs, and 8,176 are currently living on campus, 185 fewer students than OU was projecting.
But some students are still living in lounges and the residence halls are still about 30 students over capacity, according to Pete Trentacoste, executive director of Residential Housing.
“Every student that was with an RA at this point has been provided a new assignment,” he said.
Josh Flint, a freshman studying finance, was placed with RA Alex Howell in Atkinson House on South Green when he moved to campus on Aug. 21. Flint said that although the experience wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t bad.
“I didn’t mind it,” said Flint. “I just kind of felt like that I had to watch my toes.”
Flint lived with Howell from when he moved in until Aug. 28, a week after coming to campus. His permanent assignment is just down the hall from Howell’s room, he said.
Flint said he would have rather lived with another freshman because he didn’t feel like he was getting the true first year student experience by living with the RA, but that he and Howell tried to make the most of the situation.
The temporary assignment did have its perks, Flint said because he was living with an upperclassman that had been a freshman before and could answer his questions.
“That was actually nice,” he said.
Only male students were temporarily assigned to RA rooms, Trentacoste said, and even as students drop out of the university, male space is still tight on campus.
“Male vacancies in general are hard to come by at the moment,” he said.
Residential Housing had to resort to placing students with RAs after accepting housing deposits from 4,354 first year students, The Post previously reported.
Housing also took rooms that had been used as doubles, but were originally designed as triples and converted them back to their original size in order to house the extra students. Residential Housing has never said exactly how many doubles were converted back to triples.
“The number has continued to go down,” Trentacoste said.
Small lounge spaces in residence halls were also converted into rooms for students, Trentacoste said.
There are approximately 50 students living in what was originally intended as a lounge or study space, Trentacoste said.
The majority of the lounge spaces can only hold one to two students, Trentacoste said, but added that some spaces are currently holding up to five students.
It’s unclear whether students living in restored triples or lounges will be moved to permanent rooms, Trentacoste said.
“Right now we say that’s where their assignment is,” he said. “Each situation is likely dependent on what’s been communicated to them at the time.”
In terms of the lounge spaces, Trentacoste said housing has received positive feedback from students so far.
“Many have been very pleased with the space we’ve provided,” he said.
@MariaDeVito13
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