Sept. 10, 2009
Room for more
by Paula Van Brocklin
This fall's record enrollment means campus residence halls are nearly full. But there still are rooms available.
This year, an estimated 9,143 students are living on campus compared to 8,901 last year. But every student who wants a room has one; no one is sleeping in study lounges. In fact, 161 rooms across campus still are unassigned. And at Schilletter University Village, the occupancy rate is 98.1 percent.
It's a record-breaker: Fall enrollment nears 28,000
Towers are open
With the third-largest freshman class in ISU history (4,356 students), half of Helser Hall is housing first-year students.
Residence director Pete Englin said the biggest impact of the record enrollment is at Wilson and Wallace halls. The high number of returning and transfer students compelled the department to reopen Wilson, which previously was temporarily used as offices for the statistics department. Four floors are full, and the remaining six floors were opened in August for early-arriving international students. Many of those students have chosen to stay put. Wallace also is full, with nearly 300 students living there.
Only students who are at least 19 years old may live in Wallace and Wilson, which feature super-single rooms with a bed and a futon.
"Wallace and Wilson are intended for students who have already created a connection to the campus community," Englin said.
Wallace and Wilson residents also enjoy an enhanced CyRide system, with more stops to and from campus, paid by the department of residence.
