Shoebox dorms demolished, graduate students on Trinity and a new residence hall on Spear Street are all slated to happen under UVM?s Student and Staff/Faculty Housing Master Plan. The plan, intended to guide Campus Planning Services and Residential Life through 2026, calls for the University to build facilities for first-year and sophomore students, in addition to using a third-party developer for more student housing in general, Several halls on Athletic, Central and Redstone campuses will be demolished or renovated, and Jeanne Mance built in 1962 and Trinity Campus added in 1940 will be repurposed for graduate students, according to the plan. In addition, Chittenden, Wills and Buckham Halls on Central Campus, which were built in the 1940s, are likely to be knocked down, as well as Coolidge Hall on Redstone Campus. Tom Gustafson, the vice president for administration and University relations, said the Chittenden, Wills and Buckham complexes are getting too old. ?We either have to extensively renovate or just build a new hall,? Gustafson said. ?And we would rather build new instead of funneling in a lot of money into 60 or 70 year-old buildings.?While plumbing issues and other maintenance problems over the years have made it apparent that some halls are in need of a makeover, the University?s push for more housing is part of its plan to combat a downtown rental market far below the national average. In 2011, the Allen & Brooks Residency Report showed that Chittenden County had a 1.4 percent vacancy rate, far below the average 12 percent.In a November issue of the Cynic, assistant director for housing at Burlington?s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) said a healthy vacancy rate is usually about five percent. The primary factor for Burlington?s situation is the overwhelming number of college students, he said. Together, Burlington colleges in 2011 announced plans for proposed housing, the Allen & Brooks said. Nearly 1,500 new beds and decreased enrollment at some colleges?UVM?s strategic action plan has mandated decreased enrollment to make the University more selective?will likely take pressure of the market, the report stated.The University plans to build a residence hall between Harris Millis and Marsh-Austin-Tupper and Spear Street, both Kingsbury and Gustafson said.Additionally, the University plans to change where it houses different years of students. Kingsbury said extensive research by Biddison Hier, Ltd., the University?s consulting contracting company that was hired in October, reported that sophomores preferred living on Redstone.?The University will continue to place as many sophomores at Redstone Campus to build on this successful location identified for sophomores,? she said.Kingsbury also said that Trinity campus and Jeanne Mance Hall would be renovated to make them more suitable for graduate students and upperclassmen, turning them into suite-like living areas. Sophomore transfer student Carly Mata said that although she did not spend any time in the UVM dorms, the time she spent at Boston College made her realize the placement of freshmen and sophomores on campus has a huge impact on their lives.?I know people say that even though you are separate from all of the other students you create your own community, but in my experience that was not the case,? Mata said. ?I think housing is a really important aspect of college social life and this new plan would enhance the quality of life for students.?Harris Millis, Marsh-Austin-Tupper complex and Converse Hall would also be renovated for undergraduate students.New buildings on Central and Athletic campuses would help keep the existing number of beds without further adding to the number of students currently living on campus, the Cynic reported last April. 12