The office of Housing and Dining is giving away prizes, as well as special gifts, to students who sign up early for housing for the 2012-2013 school year.

Lindsay Partlow, a housing officer, said the Early Bird Contracts allows students to compete for prizes and receive a gift of $100 dining dollars for fall of 2012.

Partlow said students who sign up with the Early Bird Contracts are entered into a drawing in which students could potentially win free room and board, a free room, a free double as a single upgrade and a male-specific and female-specific prize.

“If you already know for sure that you’re living on campus next year, why not sign up and take advantage of these prizes,” Partlow said.

In order to be eligible for the prizes, students must sign the contract in the Housing and Dining office and pay the $250 housing deposit by Dec. 16, Partlow said.

Partlow said the $250 has to be paid as a housing deposit regardless of whether the student signs up for the Early Bird Contract in December or if they sign up for the regular housing contract in February.

Partlow said there are also advantages other than the prizes for signing up early, including peace-of-mind about having a room secure and having priority for rooms over other students.

Partlow said for the past few years, the number of students who take advantage of the Early Bird Contract has been between 600-700 students.

Mark Hudson, the director of University Housing and Dining Services, has said that the number of students who sign up is pretty steady.

“It’s a pretty healthy number of people willing to make that commitment early,” Hudson said.

Hudson said he thinks the reason more people do not sign is because students are not sure what their housing situation is going to be next year, whether they want to live on-or-off-campus.

“It makes sense to sign an Early Bird Contract soon and then decide by the end of the semester what you’re going to do,” Hudson said.

Kristi Eustice, the residence director for Andrews Hall, said between 25 and 30 Andrews Hall residents have handed in Early Bird Contracts so far.

“We would like to see more students take advantage of it because it gets the set up for the next year,” Eustice said.

Eustice said the benefits of signing up early include securing the ideal room for next year.

“You definitely know you are going to have a place next year and you have pretty much first choice,” Eustice said. “In most situations students get the preference that they wanted because we don’t have students taking advantage of it.”

Kathryn Richter can be reached 581-2812 or [email protected].