A residence hall den isn’t exactly what Meredith Anderson planned on calling home for her first semester at Iowa State.

Anderson, who transferred from Central College, moved into her den-turned-dorm last week. She, along with 190 other students, has been placed in temporary housing for the fall semester.

The need for the temporary housing resulted from an increase in enrollment and a record-breaking freshman class size.

According to Pete Englin, director of Residence, this isn’t the first time the university has been forced to use community dens as interim housing for students.

“This happened routinely in the late 80s and through the 1990s,” Englin said. “The last year we used dens was the 1999-2000 academic year.”

But Iowa State isn’t the only university that uses interim housing when needed. According to Lisa Ludovico, assistant director for Residence Hall Administrative Services, some schools use interim housing annually in order to cope with the high number of no-shows.

“ISU is the fifth university I have worked at and several of my previous institutions routinely used interim housing to accommodate students at the beginning of the fall semester,” Ludovico said.

At other institutions, Ludovico managed more than 800 students in interim housing at a time, with more than 600 on a waiting list.

“I have worked in places where all single rooms were converted to doubles, doubles to triples, storage closets were converted to rooms and dens were converted to eight-person rooms,” Ludovico said.

Students placed in interim housing at Iowa State have one roommate and are paying the same amount as the students living in the community to which they were assigned.

Although enrollment has been increasing since last year, the need for interim housing was not identified as necessary until mid-May of 2011.

“We initially converted Wilson Hall from upper-class super singles to all double-occupancy freshmen and expected we would meet the demand,” Englin said. “However, as the summer progressed, our numbers continued to grow.”

Students who submitted housing contracts over the summer were offered interim housing, and then reassigned to permanent spaces as they became available.

Although many students were reassigned to permanent spaces, a total of 191 students are currently living in interim rooms.

According to the Department of Residence, the den rooms used for interim housing are larger than the regular dorm rooms. Each den is lockable and furnished similarly to the other dorm rooms.

Although some students were frustrated when notified of the housing changes, Englin said most students were grateful to receive an on-campus housing option.

“With very few exceptions, students and families were appreciative for the opportunity,” Englin said. “We’re also thankful returning residents opened up their dens to provide a home for our new ISU students.”

Ludovico experienced a similar response from students and families as well.

“Everyone has been exceptionally gracious and patient with the process,” Ludovico said. “During move-in, the comments I received from the students assigned to interim housing and their families were overwhelmingly positive.”

Many students were originally confused when notified of the interim housing arrangement.

“There were those who were initially concerned because they didn’t understand, but once we spoke with them and explained what interim housing was and why we were using it, they were reassured,” Ludovico said.

“At first, I wasn’t very happy at all about being placed in a residence hall den,” Anderson said. “But once I got here, I realized it was huge and had air conditioning.”

Anderson’s room also came equipped with a fridge and has several windows.

Although the den rooms are larger and offer a more amenities, Anderson is still ready to move into a regular room.

“The room is big so that’s a plus, but I want to live in an actual room, not the lounge,” Anderson said.

Anderson was originally going to be rooming with her cousin, but due to high enrollment, she was placed in temporary housing.

Although students living in interim housing aren’t in regular dorm rooms, many argue that this is the next best thing the university can offer to students.

“In my dream world, I would be able to give each and every student a permanent assignment in their number of choice, but with an on-campus population of over 10,000, that isn’t realistic or possible,” Ludovico said. “If managed well, I feel that interim housing offers the best solution in times of increased occupancy.”

Studies have shown that students who live on campus or in university-affiliated housing earn higher GPAs than those who live elsewhere.

Brittney Rutherford, marketing coordinator for the Department of Residence, thinks interim rooms are just another way for the university to offer great opportunities to students.

“Interim rooms give our students the chance to live on campus and connect with Iowa State right away,” Rutherford said. “Our experience has shown us that students who live in university-affiliated housing are more involved and also earn higher grade point averages.”

Ludovico stated that in any situation, she would rather place students in interim housing, rather than turn them away.

“Anytime I can assign a student to a location where he or she can be a member of a vibrant, inclusive residential community, I know that I have increased that student’s chance of being a successful Cyclone,” Ludovico said.

All students currently living in interim housing will be permanently placed by the end of fall semester. However, some students will get their new room assignment sooner.

“After the 10th day of classes, registrations for no-shows will be canceled by the Registrar and subsequently, room contracts are canceled,” Englin said. “This will open up spaces for re-assignment. We hope to begin emptying some den spaces at that time.”

Despite the improvised solution for accommodating higher enrollment, interim housing has proven to be successful in the past, and many believe that this will be the case once again.

“Our history with this process tells us it worked incredibly well and helped students get engaged with being a Cyclone,” Englin said. “We expect this year to work at least as well.”