Student housing at UAB causing concern for some students, dorms at capacity

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has more than 22,000 students. Students will return for the fall 2023 semester within the next three weeks. However, some fear they won’t have a place to live.Student housing has reached 100 percent capacity.A student, who wanted to remain anonymous, sent WVTM 13 an email bringing attention to the concern.Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WVTM 13 It reads: I would like to remain anonymous, UAB housing, UAB allowed more students to apply to the school than housing that is available on campus. Several students did not receive the housing assignment of their preference which is understandable however there are tons of students who did not receive a housing assignment at all and are still in need to housing. School begins in 3 weeks and so far our student body has not received any update on what is going to happen in regards to the students who do not have housing and were not allowed to apply since the housing staff says we are over a 100% capacity. UAB just completed the construction of the new Science and Engineering complex while we the students are wondering why they will not open nor build a new residence hall. UAB housing was on the verge of a housing crisis this time last year and now it's has progressed into one. This should not have been allowed to happen.According to the executive director for student housing, Marc Booker, there are more applicants than dorm rooms. Those applicants who applied early are given priority. Depending on a student's status/classification, the deadline is different. Some applications will have to be submitted sooner or later.Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeBooker was asked about accommodations for when there's not enough campus housing."We will typically temporarily place students in a temporary assignment until something opens up that might be higher on their preference list," he said. "Sometimes they will take advantage of those other accommodations, and sometimes they'll stay where they are."A statement to WVTM 13 reads, “UAB Student Housing is experiencing high demand from students to live in our residence halls. This year, fewer students than normal decided to make off campus housing arrangements – which is a testament to the quality of UAB’s on-campus experience. Some years, it is common that we arrange temporary, alternate living arrangements for some students to start the semester until we can move them into a residence hall. At this time, this is affecting about 3 percent of students who have active applications with on-campus housing, and we are working through these requests to ensure housing needs are fulfilled as quickly as possible.” There are 3,201 current contracts with UAB for housing. Roughly 100 of those are waiting for permanent plans — three percent of those students.WVTM 13 On The Go: Download our app for free"Most students will be in their permanent fall location by the third week of class," Booker said.However, for some students, that's not an ideal plan. "I will make something shake, but I don’t want to. I want to have something stable," said Akera White, a rising junior.She relies on public transportation to get back and forth to school. Adding the stress of housing on top of her already rigorous schedule is something she can't handle."It’s really a waiting game; I would always have backup plan B and C just in case some things fall through," White said.UAB has seven residential facilities: Blount, Rast, Camp, Denman, Gold, McMahon, and Blazer Halls."We opened a large residence hall with 700 beds in 2015 and a second one in 2021. And so currently, we believe that our capacity is such that we can accommodate most students who want a space on campus," Booker said. "We just encourage students to apply as early as they can once they know they want to live on campus for the academic year."