BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech is taking several measures to provide students a feeling of safety as it prepares for the 2007-08 academic year.

Tech is in the process of making sure all classroom doors can be locked from the inside and is reconfiguring building entrances to prevent people from chaining doors shut, outgoing Staff Senate President Jean Brickey said at a meeting of the group Tuesday.

The old-fashioned metal bar configuration is being replaced by a push-panel model. The reconfiguration has already been made to the one entrance being used for Norris Hall. That door was chained shut during the April 16 shootings in the building, preventing police from entering through it.

Ed Spencer, associate vice president for student affairs, said access to residence halls will also differ from years past. Instead of being locked from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., residence halls will be locked 24 hours a day -- that has been Tech's policy since the shootings. Students only have access to their residence halls and limited access to other residential buildings. Their Hokie Passport swipe card serves as a key.

"The idea being that you can get into your own building or public areas of another building where you need to be for things like getting mail or using fitness rooms," he said.

Problems of overcrowding in those residence halls are also being addressed this summer. Upperclassmen are being allowed out of their housing contracts to prevent overcrowding on Tech's campus, which houses about 9,100 students.

The university faced a similar problem last year and overcame it by offering to let students out of their contracts in late July.

Tech has a slightly larger incoming freshman class than last year and can't count on space opening up because of students flunking out. In the past, failing students usually opened up about 130 beds each year, but after the shootings, Tech put a moratorium on expelling students for academic reasons. Failing students will have another semester to get their grades up.

One residence hall room that will not be occupied next year is 4040 West Ambler Johnston, where two people were shot hours before 30 more were killed in Norris Hall. Three neighboring rooms will also not be occupied initially, Spencer said. If there is a problem with overcrowding, students will have the option of volunteering to live in one of those rooms.

Gunman Seung-Hui Cho's room in Harper Hall will be used next year, Spencer said.

Tech is also awaiting recommendations from a state-appointed panel as well as internal groups appointed to study the April 16 shootings. Both of those reports are expected to be completed in August.