“Dedensification” sounds more like a Bushism than a Residential Education scheme, yet it is the term they’re using for the three- and ten-year plans to renovate all residence halls on campus and build two to four new dorms. The Board of Trustees is expected to pass the three-year plan in some form this weekend, in which case, renovations to four dorms will start this summer with the groundbreaking for a new dorm occurring later this year.

The first new dorm to be built will house 80-100 first-years just north of Stevenson with a bridge connecting it to the dining hall. The dorm will be built to green building standards and its completion date is 2010.

The dedensification will come into effect as part of the ten-year plan, which includes more new dorms. The purpose of these new facilities is to allow for more singles on campus rather than to accommodate more students.

Harvey, Kade, Price and Noah will be the first dorms to see renovations as part of the three-year plan. “It’s going to be a lot of long-needed cosmetic changes,” said Marc Shinn-Krantz, a College senior and student senator who serves on the Housing and Dining Committee.

The largest of these changes will include removing carpeting and replacing it with hard floors and opening up divided doubles for more living space. ResEd will also add more electrical outlets, upgrade the furniture, improve handicap accessibility and bring wireless Internet to more rooms. Probably the most welcome renovation, if the Board allocates enough money, will be separate heating and cooling controls for each room.

ResEd also wants to replace room keys with key card swipes like those used in hotels. Currently, if a student loses a room key, there is a 60-dollar charge for replacement costs and a one- to two-day wait while the new key is made. If a student loses a key card, however, only a 15-minute visit to ResEd and a 10-dollar charge will be required.

In a few weeks, a show room in Harvey will be open for students to see the changes and give suggestions. “Students will be able to say, ‘This is good, this is bad, this is what I recommend’ and [ResEd] will take all that into account when renovating the building,” said Shinn-Krantz. “They’re really looking for as much student input in the beginning as they can get.”

The purpose of these renovations is to move away from the institutional, “cookie cutter,” appearance of many dorms. “What they’re trying to do is give each building its own personality, make it more appealing and spice things up a bit. That should make students who’re here happier and attract new students as well,” said Shinn-Krantz.

Other dorms included in the three-year plan are Barrows, Bailey, Zechiel, Afrikan Heritage House, Burton and Barnard, but the renovations will not stop there. The comprehensive ten-year plan will renovate all student housing, including co-ops.

“One of my foci is to create a vibrant campus where people want to live on campus,” said College President Marvin Krislov. “We also need to improve the quality of the student housing on campus and we know that and we’re doing that. We’re working on that very much,” he continued.

The residential housing plan was discussed during last night’s open meeting with the Board of Trustees. Many students were concerned about storage space.

“Seriously think about allocating space for furniture storage,” said Christy Rollinson, a former senior resident assistant and College senior. “There are lounges and rooms on campus that aren’t being used as study lounges because they have furniture in them.”

 College senior and former Student Senator Colin Koffel raised the point of student involvement. “I think it would be really advantageous to ensure that this project moves forward…and is very deliberate in consulting students.”

The Board agreed with him. “You guys know better than anybody what you guys want,” responded Board Chair Robert Lemle.

Also included in the plans are new parking lots on North Professor and West College streets and the demolition of various dorms.

The Board of Trustees heavily supports the renovation plan. “It’s a very thorough plan that really has given us a time line to work with in terms of renovation and building new dormitories so that we will have space then to start tearing down some of the dorms that never should have been built as they are. So it’s a top priority,” said Board Member John Elger.

When asked about the likelihood that the Board would approve the three-year plan, Elger responded, “There’s no question about the summer renovations that were mentioned several times here [proceeding].”

Director of ResEd and Dining Services Molly Tyson and Director of Facilities Operations Keith Watkins declined to comment on these renovations.