The first of four phases of online dorm reassignments for University Resident Hall students began Tuesday morning, but in light of housing changes for the next year, some residents won’t be able to return to their same rooms.

Crystal Verdun, resident director of Wardall Hall, confirmed that the eighth and ninth floors of the all-female Wardall Hall, a part of Illinois Street Residence Halls, will change to all male floors next year, forcing current occupants to find new housing.

D. Cole Spencer, assistant director of University Housing, explained that because of the gender breakdown of incoming freshman over the past few years, University Housing needed to change the floors to accommodate incoming students.

“We went through retention rates over the past few years of all the buildings to find the best fit for changing gender,” Spencer said in an e-mail. “As the Occupancy Management group went through the building locations and rates, Wardall was determined as the best location for changing the floors.”

While some residents of Wardall Hall are unaware or indifferent about the change, some, like two-year resident Allison Wong, sophomore in LAS, are upset.

“Part of the reason why I chose to live at ISR is because the guys are in one building and the girls are in another,” Wong said.

Conrad Siu, sophomore in Engineering, a resident of Townsend – the male-only dorm adjacent to Wardall – expressed his concerns given the tight escorting rules already in place. He said he’s concerned that making Wardall co-ed would lead to unnecessary write-ups by Resident Advisors.

“It’s going to be hard to distinguish which guys live in Wardall and which ones are just not being escorted,” Siu said. “Guys are still going to get written up if found on any of the other floors, but what’s to keep an unescorted guy from saying he lives on eight or nine?”

For those wishing to remain in an all-female dorm, University Housing suggests that residents select either Busey-Evans or Lincoln Avenue Residence halls, which will both remain all female.

Wardall, however, is not the only dorm affected by the change. According to an e-mail that University Housing sent to displaced residents, the 12th floors of Oglesby and Trelease, currently male, at Florida Avenue Residence Hall, will also be held back in case there needs to be a change in the gender designation for next year.

Displaced residents of Wardall, Oglesby and Trelease will be given priority sign up for other University Residence Hall rooms during phase two of online room reassignments on Nov.10. Phase three of reassignment will allow current residents who wish to stay in the same hall they currently live in sign up starting Nov. 15. Other current residents who want to switch halls can register beginning Nov. 29.

According to the Housing Web site, only current residents with housing contracts will be allowed to live in the residence halls as Housing anticipates that all remaining spaces will be needed for new freshmen and transfer students next year.

Undergraduate students already living in graduate dorms, Sherman and Daniels, will be able to re-sign their housing contracts from Nov. 1 to 6. But current residents wishing to live in graduate dorms, who must be 20 years old, can request to be on a waiting list. Requests received by Dec. 1 will be prioritized by seniority.