As a result of increased undergraduate enrollment, 98 first-year students will move into the JDUC in September after plans to turn the building’s graduate spaces into undergraduate rooms were approved.

In April Senate recognized the two per cent increase in applications to Queen’s for September 2012. This information called for an increase in enrollment resulting in the recommendation to add 146 new undergraduate residence spaces.

The residence spaces in the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC) are comprised mainly of single rooms.

Bruce Griffiths, director of Queen’s housing and hospitality services, said the decision was necessary to combat growing numbers of students.

“There was the desire to have increased enrollment but we guarantee all first-year students residence,” Griffiths said, adding that until the motion passed, the University was unsure if increased enrollment would be possible.

The remainder of the 146 new spaces will be in Waldron Tower, where 48 additional spaces have been created following an expansion project that began in March.

The spaces that were in the JDUC for graduate students are being moved to the Confederation Place Hotel. The hotel approached the University with the idea of housing students.

“The hotel reached out to us some months ago. They were looking for a different business model,” Griffiths said.

The Confederation Place Hotel previously offered overnight accommodations to grad students for several months at a time. This arrangement was especially useful to students who needed to be in Kingston for a shorter time period than most leases allow, like four or five months, Griffiths said.

Claire Wenngren, MA ’11 lived in the JDUC from Sept. 2009 to April 2011.

“As far as convenience goes, the JDUC can’t be beat, especially for people like me who want to use the athletic facilities without schlepping a lot of clothing and gear through the city,” she told the Journal via email.“Undergrads could probably also profit from living at the JDUC and being so close to these numerous facilities.”

Wenngren said there were also disadvantages to living in the JDUC, including little ventilation in the rooms and the proximity to campus pubs.

“Where I lived, it was generally quiet, but I know people who lived above the Queen’s Pub [and] complained about the smell.”

— With files from Holly Tousignant