The university is assigning students specific time slots to move into campus housing in August to promote physical distancing and ensure a smooth and healthy move-in process. A new information line about the university's Ready & Resilient efforts has also been established.
Members of the Class of 2024 have received more details about their arrival to campus this fall under a plan that extends the traditional move-in process to promote physical distancing.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new student move-in this year will be spread across two days, Aug. 14-15, with students assigned a time on one of the two days to move into university housing. Students will be moving in between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15. Members of the Class of 2024 received their move-in time slot on July 1, with the details accessible through their Acorn accounts.
Returning students living in residence halls will assigned move-in times for Aug. 17-18, and will receive those assignments by email by July 10.
Move-In Day at Elon is typically a frenzied but highly coordinated process that takes place during four or five hours at the start of orientation. But due to health and safety concerns, the process has been extended across two days to reduce the number of people in residence halls and promote physical distancing. Each student will be asked to only be accompanied by two additional people during move-in.
“That’s really to help with our residence halls and the number of people in residence hall spaces,” Emily Krechel, director of new student and transitions programs, said during a July 1 Elon Bound Facebook Live event.
The time slots that students are assigned have been based upon multiple factors, including their housing and roommate assignments, but those assignments will not be shared until July 23, when new students will receive a wealth of information to help them prepare to begin their time at Elon. In their Acorn account, new students can now find their move-in time slot as well as a checklist to help them prepare for the fall, said MarQuita Barker, director of residence life.
“The next step (after receiving a housing and roommate assignment) will be to contact your roommate and talk about what things you might bring,” Barker said during the Facebook Live session.
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.
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.
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, with far fewer staff participating to keep the number of people in and around residence halls at a minimum.
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.
Traffic around campus will likely be lighter than during a typical Move-In Day, but students and their families should expect delays, particularly around the Schar Center. All students must begin their move-in process by visiting the Schar Center for a health screening and to receive supplies including an Elon-branded mask, a thermometer, hand sanitizer, guidelines for daily health monitoring and more. From there, students can travel to the designated parking lots associated with their residence hall to begin moving in.
“Parking is going to be better than it has ever been because we’re moving in over two days, but we are using specific lots for the process of moving,” Krechel said.
More details about Elon’s Ready & Resilient plans for fall semester are available on a dedicated website at www.elon.edu/rr. Also, a special information line is now available for parents and students to call with questions about Ready & Resilient resources. Call the Ready & Resilient Information Line Monday through Friday during regular business hours at (336) 278-2020 or send questions by email to Ready2020@elon.edu.