Elon’s newest students will begin arriving on campus on Friday, Aug. 14 during an extended and adapted move-in and New Student Orientation process leading up to the start of the fall semester.
Elon University will soon welcome its newest students to campus after months of preparations across the university, including planning for new ways to teach and learn and extensive educational efforts to promote health and safety within the university community.
The Class of 2024 and transfer students will begin arriving on campus on Friday Aug. 14 to kick off an extended move-in period that will be followed by New Student Orientation on Aug. 17 and the start of classes on Aug. 19. It’s the start of a new and adapted semester at Elon that will be built upon the same educational and experiential foundations but will be very different in many ways for students, faculty and staff.
Move-in will look different this year, but the process of settling into campus life remains a significant transition and exciting milestone for the more than 1,600 new Elon students and their families. Elon will welcome one of the largest first-year classes in its history after receiving a record number of applications. Sixty-seven transfer students will join the Elon community as well.
The Class of 2024 boasts an average SAT score of 1,232, an ACT score of 27 and an average GPA of 4.03. They will be coming to Elon from 41 states and 23 countries around the world. The class is made up of 59 percent women and 41 percent men, with 20 percent from ethnically diverse backgrounds. They will arrive at Elon to launch their university careers bringing their own academic experiences, their personal passions and their desire to learn.
Schar Center Health Check-In
The university’s traditional Move-In Day, a high-energy and fine-tuned process supported by hundreds of students, faculty and staff, has been adapted this year to account for the COVID-19 pandemic, with new policies and measures in place to promote a healthy and safe start to the academic year.
New this year are requirements for the arrival to campus that were put in place to help limit the spread of COVID-19. All students, faculty and staff are required to complete a PCR COVID-19 pre-semester test before classes, and the university will conduct ongoing random testing throughout the semester. Elon is offering access to a do-it-yourself nasal swab PCR test designed by LabCorp for students, who also have the option to submit the results of another PCR test. Elon must receive testing results before students arrive on campus. More information about the testing policy is available here.
Move-in will start for new students at the Schar Center with a Health Check-In. For first-year students, time slots for the Health Check-In and move-in are allocated across multiple sessions on Friday, Aug. 14 and Saturday, Aug. 15. Students can check their Acorn Accounts for their assigned date and time.
“Whatever time you might have been assigned, that’s when you should be showing up at the Schar Center Health Check-In,” said Emily Krechel, director of new student programs, during an Elon Bound Facebook Live Event.
Upon arrival at the Schar Center, all students and family members will have their temperatures checked and students will receive their Ready & Resilient Kits with an Elon face covering, hand sanitizer, tissues, a thermometer and more information. Staff at the Schar Center will verify that the student has completed the required PCR COVID-19 testing and the required health training, submitted immunizations (first-year students), and signed the Healthy Elon Commitment. More about the Schar Center Health Check-In is available here.
Once the check-in is complete, students and their families will be directed to the proper parking location for their specific residence hall. To reduce congestion and the flow of traffic in and around campus, the university has provided directions from Schar Center to residence halls that can be found here.
Moving In
This year, Elon has spread the move-in process for first-year students across two days to reduce the number of people in residence halls and to promote physical distancing. Additionally, each student is asked to only be accompanied by two additional people during move-in.
Elon has focused on assigning the same or similar move-in time slots for roommates to allow the students and their families to meet each other in person and make decisions about their rooms together. “That way, people feel more comfortable and at ease about who they are going to be living with,” Krechel said during an Elon Bound Facebook Live event this summer.
Time slots have been selected to help make sure that no more than a quarter of the students on any residence hall floor are moving in at the same time. Orientation leaders will be waiting for students outside residence halls to help them get checked in.
Move-In Day typically draws scores of staff volunteers to assist students and their families with taking their belongings to their new homes, but that will be different this year as well. There will be fewer staff participating to keep the number of people in and around residence halls at a minimum, but orientation leaders will be there to assist those who are comfortable with others helping transport their belongings.
“We’re trying to limit the number of people we have in and around our neighborhoods,” Krechel said. “We do encourage you to be prepared to move yourself.”
To assist with the process, Elon will be offering additional large carts to transport belongings from vehicles to rooms, and each student is asked to only use a cart for 30 minutes, though they can take longer for their move-in process. After a student is done using a cart, it will be sanitized before being put into use again.
Elon is requiring students and families to wear face coverings throughout the move-in process. Additionally, safe usage guidelines including physical distancing and occupancy limits will be posted for all common areas including lounges, kitchens and lobbies. Sanitizing stations will be located inside buildings, particularly around elevators, restrooms and common areas.
Parent and Family Orientation
Most of this year’s Parent and Family Orientation events are being held virtually this year. There are five scheduled Parent and Family Orientation Sessions scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Families are encouraged to attend those events virtually if possible at: www.elon.edu/live . Recordings of the sessions will also be available at www.elon.edu/parents next week.
In keeping with guidance from the CDC and state health officials, there will be a limited number of physically distanced seats available in Alumni Gymnasium for those who cannot use remote technologies. Those seats will be available until the reduced capacity of the gym has been met. If you choose to attend a session in Alumni Gym, please take special care to keep physical distance at entrance points to the facility.
If you attend the sessions in-person, please go to the session that corresponds to your student’s assigned move-in time. If you are watching remotely, you may access any of the session times. Session times are as follows.
Friday, August 14:
1 p.m (move-in time 8-11 a.m.)
3:30 p.m. (move-in time 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
6 p.m. (move-in time 2:30-4:30 p.m.)
Saturday, August 15
1 p.m. (move-in time 8-11:30 a.m.)
5 p.m. (move-in time noon-3 p.m.)
New Student Orientation
The New Student Orientation experience has been reimagined this year for all new students, with activities beginning after students move in and continuing through Tuesday, Aug. 18. Students will receive the orientation schedule during check-in, and it can also be found online here.
New students will be participating in orientation as members of small groups with 12 to 25 students that will be led by an orientation leader, an upperclass student who has been trained to provide information students need to be successful at Elon. Orientation includes a series of information sessions that offer a variety of useful insights into navigating the academic and social aspects of college life.
For instance, HealthEU sessions on Sunday will introduce students to campus well-being resources and help them navigate healthy behaviors. “I am Elon” sessions later that day offer the opportunity to consider the diverse perspectives at Elon and provide an opportunity to reflect on personal identity as students join the campus community.
During orientation, students will have the chance to meet with their academic advisors, the person who will work with students to help plan for coursework and experiential learning until they declare a major.
In addition to making sure you are prepared to begin class and engage in academics at Elon, orientation will help students learn about campus life and cultural values at Elon. Elon values a strong, inclusive community in which students understand the importance of different identities and respectfully engage with each other across those differences. A full schedule will be provided at check-in in August.
New Student Convocation will be held on Monday, Aug. 17, with students gathering in small groups to participate in the livestreamed ceremony that will officially launch their careers at the university. President Connie Ledoux Book will welcome students and their families to campus and share her thoughts about the start of their experience at Elon.