The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/26/09 Section: News

SHAY

Giddy up 409.

For Valerie Joyce, these lyrics from the Beach Boys may have new meaning. Joyce is number 409 in a line of more than 700 University students on the wait list for campus housing for next year.

Undecided on whether she wanted to live on or off campus, Joyce applied for campus housing. Although the convenience of living on campus and a desire to remain on the meal plan appealed to her, Joyce's position on the wait list helped make up her mind.

"We realized there wasn't a really high chance of getting a spot at East Campus Village," said Joyce, a freshman from Griffin. "We kind of gave it up then."

Not all students are giving up so easily.

Lutfiyya Muhammad was number 54 as of Wednesday, she said. Despite her high ranking, and the progress she has made since she was originally ranked in the 160s, she remains concerned about the whole process.

"I think it's kind of ridiculous," said Muhammad, a sophomore from College Park. "I know they're not going to be able to guarantee everyone a spot, but I think the whole process is too long."

Muhammad thought it was strange that she was placed on the waiting list at all, due to her high grade point average and number of hours, she said.

"I know students are frustrated, but in terms of our process and what we see in terms of trends, I don't see anything too out of the ordinary," Shay Davis Little, director of residence hall administrative operations, said about the length of this year's wait list.

Little said this year's wait list is roughly 100 students longer than last year and is similar to the list in 2007. More than 2,800 upperclassmen applied for 1,959 spots in January.

"It still is a very long list, I don't want to minimize that," she said.

On Tuesday, Housing sent an e-mail to the top 130 students, asking them to confirm whether they wanted to remain on the waiting list or be removed so students lower on the list could be moved up.

According to the University housing Web site, "the list of residents will be put in order of largest to smallest based on number of UGA credit hours earned."

Students who have the same number of credit hours will be ranked by grade point average.

Students who are not able to receive on-campus residency will have to look elsewhere for housing. Many apartment complexes off-campus are experiencing the opposite phenomena and have more rooms than renters.

"We do still have availability," said Debora Poole, manager of the River Mill Apartments off Baldwin Street. "Compared to last year, [the number of renters] is about the same."

River Mill is a viable substitute for on-campus housing because of it's close proximity to campus, she said.

Students stuck in residency limbo, however, have little choice but to either cross their fingers on the wait list or cross on-campus residency off their list of places to live.

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