Some students who wanted a double room all to themselves this fall may find an unwanted temporary guest when they return.

The students who want this service “signed an agreement that they are willing to accept a roommate,” said David Popelka, business manager of the residence halls. The department of residence received 1,000 applications last fall, Popelka said. “There is an impact.”

The impact occurred because “we received around 200 contracts higher than last year, Popelka said. The double-as-single situation will not be final until the first week of school is finished because “some number of students who don’t let you know if they are coming back can cause housing problems and we give them a week after school starts before terminating their contract,” he explained.

Students who want to have their privacy pay $340 more in semester fees. The people who signed a contract will receive $25 a week until the department finds a space for the temporary roommate, Popelka said.

“Returning people get preference,” Patricia Robinson, coordinator of residence life, said. “The longer you live in the residence halls, the more likely you are to get your choice.” She added that students work out their living arrangements before the end of the spring semester.

Double for single occupancy rooms are available all over campus, Popelka said. “This service has been used heavily the past two years and probably goes back three or four.”

The department chooses rooms for people on a number of factors. Popelka said he wanted to make sure people know that the department doesn’t go by a pure priority date when deciding housing situations. “There are application dates, special interest houses, people wanting a specific roommate and people who want to live in continuous or academic housing,” he added. Some of the special houses include “non-smoking, non-alcohol, quiet dorms and honors.”

“The special housing that’s new is the Honors Hall,” Robinson said. Honors students have the opportunity to live in Lyon Hall.

“We asked students two years ago what was important to them,” Popelka said. “We found that 99.99 percent want a specific roommate.”

“The students made the call to move the priority date if two applications are received at different times from people wanting to live together,” Popelka said. The priority is moved to the latest application date received from the students who requested specific roommates.