After struggling to find enough rooms due to a record number of incoming freshman in the 2005-2006 school year, University Housing is anticipating a much smaller resident hall crunch come move-in day Aug. 19.

According to the Office of Admissions and Records’ Fall 2005 Freshman Profile, 7,584 new freshmen were enrolled at the beginning of the year. This was the biggest number in the history of the University and accounted for about 69 percent of the total capacity of undergraduate University residence halls and private certified housing facilities.

Because of a University mandate that requires all new first-year students to live in residence halls for at least their first semester in either a University housing facility or a private certified residence, housing officials had to cancel housing contracts offered to a significant number of transfer students who were admitted for the fall semester.

Kirsten Ruby, the University’s associate director of housing for marketing, said housing officials were not anticipating such a large number of freshmen. While about 25 percent of freshmen end up living in one of the 17 private certified housing facilities on campus, approximately 40 percent of students living in the University residence halls return every year.

Ruby said some freshmen had to be placed in temporary housing, meaning that they ended up living in the floor lounges converted into living space until spaces opened up. Students in temporary housing receive a 50 percent discount in fees for the duration of their stay.

“While it sounds like it’s an iffy situation, it’s really another room we use,” Ruby said. “At the end of the fall semester, there were a handful of students who remained in their temporary spaces, but a majority of them got a permanent housing assignment after a few weeks,”

While the Office of Admissions and Records did not yet have an official number of new freshmen who will be enrolled in the Fall 2006 semester, Ruby said university housing expects to accommodate approximately 7,100 to 7,200, a number that she said was more manageable.

“We will, like most years, have some students who will be living in temporary housing for the first few weeks, but this isn’t unusual.” Ruby said. “About 100 to 150 students typically will leave. While that’s unfortunate, and we hate to see anybody leave, that’s their choice and that usually opens up some spaces.”

Ruby also said Sherman Hall, which was opened up to freshmen out of necessity last year, will revert back to a residence hall for students who are 20 or older.