Housing at maximum capacity; students in lounges

With the largest student population in Norwich's history, housing has become an issue this semester, according to students and Norwich officials.

"There are more people wanting to come here than there are beds for," said Major Kristine Seipel, housing official for Norwich University. "There was more demand than supply."

Norwich is at its maximum occupancy for beds and students. This has caused some corps students to live off campus.

About a dozen upperclassmen corps students are living off campus, staying with members of the community, Norwich faculty and staff.

As rooms become available, due to students dropping out or moving out, these students can come back.

The university plans to have all the corps students living on campus within the next few weeks.

"We are using every inch of living space that we have, I do not think that lounges were supposed to be bedrooms, I'm not crazy about quads and triples, and I think housing has had the biggest impact. I think lounges were supposed to be lounges and quads are a tough thing for students here," said Martha Mathis, the NU dean of students.

Students who are living off campus are considered commuter and civilian students. This means they do not have to go to formation, wear a uniform, or go to physical training (PT).

 "It's nice because I don't have to show up to PT or formations or uniforms," said Zach Nichols, a 20-year-old sophomore computer security information assurance major from Roswell, N.M.  Nichols lives on Turkey Hill with a family.

Some students living off-campus did not follow the university's rules about housing. Students had to do three things to have a room on campus: register, pay the $250 deposit and hand in housing forms. The deadline was pushed to July, but students who failed to comply were put off campus.

Michael Tipper, 20, sophomore criminal justice major from Flint, Mich., said he registered late. He doesn't mind living off campus but would like to return to the corps.     

"It's a little bit of my fault for not having everything registered on time but I think it's partly Norwich's fault for not putting a cap on people they accept," he said.

These rules will be emphasized next semester.

"This is a brand new thing we have never experienced before. We are probably going to be stricter on the dates and deadlines," Seipel said. Other steps will be taken as well.

"What we are looking into is improving two things. (We want to) continue to improve our processes and more accurately predict who is going to be returning. The other area we will be looking into is the size of the freshman class," said Brig. Gen Michael Kelley, vice president for student affairs and commandant of cadets.

There will be limits on incoming students and the process to return will be more closely looked at by university officials. It will be up to the students to get everything in and let the school know they will be returning the following year.

Dan Magee contributed to this story.