Applications to the 2010-11 housing draw—which will offer no less than 180 combinations of residences and room type options, according to Student Housing—open today.

Among changes to this year’s draw, which are listed on the Student Housing Web site, students may now choose “umbrella” options in their housing application, like “any east campus residence hall” or “any upper Row self-op.”

Suites will no longer allow mixed-gender six-person draw groups, though four-person groups of mixed gender will still be permitted.

In Rains, some units will be converted to shelter “overflow” undergraduates as soon as fall quarter, a move that had some graduate students up in arms last week about younger students’ possible incursion into social life in the complex.

Assignments to focus houses—Branner, Adelfa, Murray and Toyon—will be made separately ahead of the draw, while students looking to draw into those houses as non-focus residents will go through the regular draw.

Sorority and fraternity members living in Greek houses “will have their tier years removed,” Housing said. “If they need campus housing, they will have their years returned beginning with tier three for the first year, tier two for the second year, etc.”

And in Bob, La Casa Italiana and Storey, in-house draws may not take place until “late summer” because capital improvement projects could affect room configurations before then.

Housing said it would continue to assign some students who return to campus winter quarter to Oak Creek and Escondido Village.

The disability draw deadline is April 16; pre-assignment, April 22; regular draw, May 9.

– Elizabeth Titus