Similar to the incremental increase of tuition due on semester conversion, the cost of housing on campus will also increase, beginning with fall semester 2003.

The increase in housing costs, Residential Life officials say, is due to the three additional weeks added under the conversion to semesters. A semester will have 14 weeks versus the current 11-week quarter system.

Residential Life officials said the increase in housing costs are based on the .75 conversion rate, the same rate used to convert tuition costs from quarters to semesters. M.L. Langlie, the director of operations and financial management for Residential Life, said the same range of housing options will continue to be made available to students under the semester calendar.

Langlie said that proposed rates for an economy room will be $1,760 per semester in places such as 319 and 337 Huntington Ave., Burstein and Rubenstein.

Standard rooms will cost $2,640 per semester in residence halls, such as 407 Huntington Ave. and Loftman Hall. Enhanced rooms in West Village and Davenport will cost $3,520 under the semester system. All costs are proposed, as they have not been approved yet by the board of trustees.

Rates for the two summer semesters will be equal out to be exactly half of what they are during a full semester, as they are seven weeks long versus the full 14-week period.

Assistant Director for Residential Life Michael Polcari said staffing changes in the residence halls may fluctuate during the summer semesters, but any changes should be minimal.

“We have about 60 summer positions for RAs during the summer. We hire eight as conference assistants, 15 as orientation housing assistants and about 35 to 40 as RAs in open buildings,” Polcari said. “This number varies as the buildings that are open change each summer. I anticipate that any staffing changes for the summers based on semester conversion would be very small in number.”

Polcari said that RA training and selection will be greatly effected by the conversion because move in for fall semester in September 2003 will fall so close to finals weeks.

“Because of the shortened summer and because to/from moves start during finals for summer 2003, RAs will need to be back much earlier than in the past,” Polcari said. “Also since Labor Day is the weekend before fall 2003 opening weekend, RA training will run through Labor Day.

Traditionally, RAs in all buildings have reported the day after Labor Day.

With semester conversion, that is a thing of the past.

Polcari added that he has heard very few concerns regarding semester conversion from the residence assistants. Langlie echoed Polcari saying both residents and resident assistants will benefit from semesters.

“The longer terms will allow students to get to know each other, roommates, and floor mates, better, forming a stronger sense of community within the halls. It will allow RAs and live-in staff the ability to get to know students better and facilitate more programs and events each term,” said Langlie.

Another concern facing Residential Life is the lottery process.

Langlie said housing for 2004 is currently underway and should not be affected by the conversion. The lottery process for the following academic year has yet to be solidified.

“The current ‘lottery’ process for 2003-2004 is underway and followed a similar timeline as in past years,” Langlie said. “Next year, due to the spring semester ending much earlier than we are used to, we will have to look at the lottery/application timeline for 2004-2005. The timeline might change as a result, but we haven’t finalized those dates yet.”

Some elements of residential life will remain the same through the conversion process. The university will continue to guarantee housing for freshmen and sophomores, and the final quarter NU will offer this summer will not be effected by the fall ’03 conversion date.

“The upcoming summer 2003 is still in the quarter calendar, and so there will be no changes in the processes,” Langlie said.

Two options will be available to students next summer, Langlie said, because of the two smaller semesters offered in the summer months.

“Our plan is to treat the summer session I and summer session II as two separate ‘terms’ so students can choose, one to stay in housing for both terms, or two stay in housing for one term but not the other,” she said.

As for availability for housing, Langlie said the university will continue to close some residence halls, but does not anticipate a crunch for housing because of the newly added summer mini semesters.

“There will still be some buildings that close in the summer of 2004, similar to what we currently do in the summers. The number of buildings that close or stay open will be based on student demand for housing. We will always accommodate any student that wants housing in the summer.”

The Department of Residential Life is currently projecting an even distribution of student in both summer semesters and reiterated that it will be able to house students that request housing.

“Currently, we are projecting about the same amount of students in each of the summer sessions,” Langlie said. “We do have enough space on campus during the summer, both sessions, to accommodate as much student demand for housing that exists. Our hope is that students will take classes and elect to stay on campus during the summer months.”

Overall, semester conversion will aid the department of residential life, Langlie said.

“Logistically, there will be fewer ‘move-in’ and ‘move-out’ periods during the academic year, which is also beneficial. For all of these reasons, programmatically, and operationally, we are very excited about the conversion to a semester model.”