By Yanna Krupnikov
Justice Editorial Board

Following the notable shortage of on-campus housing last year, the University has named a new residence hall as one of its highest priorities.

According to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French, if the University succeeds in securing the funding by the end of Spring semester, Brandeis may have a new 200-bed residence hall by the end of Fall 2003.

“This assumes that we put together a funding package and the trustees approve the project,” French said.

“The key to all of this is where is the money going to come from,” he added.

Still, French said that he is “highly optimistic” that the University will be able to put together a financial package of donations and University resources. Currently, Brandeis is looking into modes of fundraising, as well as debt financing and other internally generated resources for this project. French noted, however, that an increase in the student tuition will not be used to finance the new residence hall.

When the appropriate resources have been raised, French explained that the next step will be a process of planning and design. The University has already retained Chan & Krieger, the architectural firm currently in charge of directign the Master Plan, to create a “mini-master plan” for a new residence hall.French said that this “mini master-plan” will look at the possible locations of the new residence hall in terms of its relation to parking lots, dining halls and academic buildings.

“When we are doing the planning, we are looking at all the different elements as they relate in terms of use,” French said.

It is still undecided what type of a residence hall the new building will be. French said likely possibilities are apartments or suites.

“We have to emphasize that a lot of planning has to go on,” he said.

While this new residence hall may appear to be the University’s response to the rising admissions application rate, French pointed out that all the planning involved is based on a steady capacity of 3,000 enrolled undergraduates.

“We’ve seen an increased number of applicants; as a result the University is becoming more selective,” French said. “It is possible that the University may increase (its capacity) in the future, but the current Master Plan is for (3,000) undergraduates.”

The planning for a new residence hall comes as part of the greater Master Plan, which Brandeis is currently creating. When finished, the Master Plan will give the University a framework to make changes and additions as resources become available, Associate Vice President for Operations Edward Adelman explained.

“(The Master Plan) is a dynamic document,” Adelman said.

Through the series of goals set by the Master Plan, Brandeis will see improvements in many of its physical on-campus attributes over the years, including the quality of academic spaces and the spaces between buildings. Overall, however, the Master Plan will give Brandeis a chance to prepare for the possibility of another major gift, such as the Shapiros’ donation for the new campus center while taking all aspects of the University into account.

“There is no silver bullet, (the Master Plan) is a multi-dimensional study,” Adelman said.