The Administration and Residence Life are working to accommodate approximately 65 mid-year students coming to Brandeis next term.According to Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer, students who study abroad account for 70 percent of the available beds on campus in the spring. All of this room will be filled by the incoming mid-year students.

When juniors return from their study abroad as seniors in the Fall, Sawyer said it is the University's responsibility to try and find them housing.

"It's got a ripple effect to it that some of us are concerned about and have been articulating," Sawyer said.

Sawyer said he is now responding to current problems and will deal with how to accommodate an even larger student body next Fall.

"For a long time, bed space in the spring was available because students went abroad," Sawyer said. "We are usually more than full in the fall. Accommodating new students and transfers was never an issue. Finding a bed space somewhere was not a huge deal."

Sawyer said that Residence Life is trying to house mid-years in first and second year dormitories - East Quad, North Quad, Massell Quad and the Castle.

"We have a commitment to keep the mid-year class together," Director of Residence Life Maggie Balch said. "We will try out best to accommodate other students. But we also have to make way for this mid-year class as well."

Sawyer said he notified the community that if two friends have half-open doubles, they can choose to room together or host a new student.

"Maybe there is a half-empty double in East, and that person would be pulled in," Sawyer said. "Then I have a double in East."

There will also be some incentives for students willing to either move or host a mid-year student.

"We are ready to make a deal with almost anybody, not in an absurd way though," Sawyer said.

If a student living in East was asked to move to The Village, which is more expensive, Sawyer said there is a possibility that student would be charged at a reduced boarding cost.

If space ran out, Sawyer said he feels confident a suite for upper-classmen would welcome a mid-year student.

"If we look at a suite in Ridgewood and look at the people that live in the suite, I bet you somebody (in the administration) knows somebody who lives there," Sawyer said. "And we can call on those people and say we have a student coming in and ask them if they would like to be that person's personal Community Advisor."

Residence Life is also determining where to place transfer students, students who took a semester off for personal on medical reasons and those returning from leave of absences.

Sawyer said that he warned these students housing is not guaranteed for them.

Creating a mid-year class was also a business decision by the University.

"Let's face it, having empty bed spaces means that we are not full in many ways," Sawyer said. "And this University is still very student revenue driven. Faculty salaries depend on it. We need the revenue. Having the best resources for students depends on us being as full as we can be."

Balch said that while she can encourage the community to welcome mid-years, it will be a testament as to how well the student population welcomes the new class.

"If I end up getting phone calls from parents that say my son is in the mid-year class and the people on his floor are not welcoming him, what does that say about us as a University?" Balch said. "And I think that that's the piece we are trying to focus on."

To help welcome the mid-years, Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett has been forming a mid-year orientation committee to welcome new students. She is thinking about planning a day in Boston and possibly seeing a theatrical production.

"We are going to be asking orientation volunteers to come back on Jan. 7 to prepare for the orientation process," Bennett said.

Bennett is also organizing a day where mid-years can sign up for meal plans and do any remaining administrative work.

"We want to have as good of orientation as their fellow classmates had in August," Bennett said.

Bennett is confident the community will accept the mid-years.

"I know the community will accept the (mid-years) because when I ask students why they chose to come to Brandeis over other schools, they say the people here are so friendly," Bennett said.