March 18, 2020

Move-Out Process

To all residential students:

We are writing to share details regarding the first phase of our plan for you to return to campus and pack your rooms. Please read the following information very carefully, as there are a lot of details regarding the process.

We will be offering times between Thursday, March 19 and Tuesday, March 24 for students to return to campus and pack their rooms. We will be using the following guidelines during this time:

  • To encourage social distancing, we are limiting the number of students who will be permitted to enter campus and move out at a given time. We will be offering two-hour time slots, from 8:00am–8:00pm, on each of these days. You will need to pack and move your belongings out within your assigned two-hour timeframe.

  • We are asking that each student select only one timeslot so we can accommodate as many students as possible. To select a timeslot please click here. To select a timeslot please click here.

  • We are allowing one student per floor of each building to move out during a single, two-hour time slot. Again, this is to support social distancing.

  • Please remember to bring your key and OneCard with you when you come to campus.

  • After you have moved out, you should leave your key in the overnight drop box in the Office of Residential Life. Please place your key in an envelopes provided, clearly writing your name and room number on the envelope.

  • Campus Safety will have hand trucks available for use. You will be able to pick these up from the lobby between Campus Safety & Residential Life.

  • We will provide disinfecting wipes and ask that you please thoroughly wipe down the hand truck when you return it to the lobby to keep others safe.

  • We ask that you please bring bins, suitcases, and boxes from home as you’re able, to expedite your move. Residential Life has a very limited supply of boxes, given the unique circumstances of this move out, so please don’t count on boxes being available when you arrive.

  • If you have boxes you wish to store on-campus, we ask that you leave these in your room, securely sealed, and labeled clearly with your name. Residential Life will NOT be charging for storage this year, due to the unique circumstances we’re facing.

  • Once everyone has moved out, we will collect the boxes and place them in storage. As always, please know that you are storing items at your own risk, and though we will make every attempt to safeguard your boxes, Residential Life will not be held responsible for any damage to personal items.

  • If you have rented a MicroFridge, please be certain to clean it out thoroughly, but leave it plugged in. We will take care of unplugging, defrosting, and getting the MicroFridges picked up.

  • There will be dumpsters available in locations near the residence halls. Please place all of your trash in the dumpsters. This is important, as it will greatly help minimize any risk to our FMS staff.

  • Though you will see others on campus when you are moving out, we must ask that you practice social distancing, maintaining at least 6 feet between people. We know this feels unusual, but we are in unusual times!

  • We will make hand sanitizer stations readily available and will leave Lysol in the elevators. Please spray any surfaces you touch before leaving the elevator and, in the spirit of care for our larger community, please leave these supplies where you found them. We need these supplies to keep our essential staff safe as they do critical work for our campus.

  • If multiple groups are waiting for the elevator, we ask that one family use the elevator at a time. Again, we are asking this to abide by the recommendations from the CDC, and to help keep you all safe.

As mentioned above, this is the first phase of our move out plan. For any of you who are NOT able to return to campus, we can pack and ship (or store) your items. Students who would like packages shipped will need to create an active UPS account with payment information attached to the account. If you will need your items packed and shipped (or stored), please sign up here please sign up here. Given the evolving nature of the virus and the many details we’re managing at the moment, we cannot tell you how quickly we’ll be able to pack items, but please know we will work with you to get this done as soon as possible. Also, please be aware that it is very expensive to ship heavy items, so please consider only having essential items shipped.

If you will be able to return to campus, but aren’t available in this window of time, we will be offering additional dates in the future, to be announced. Again, since this pandemic situation is evolving daily, we can’t provide exact dates at this time, but we will be offering additional opportunities for you to return to campus and collect your things.

Many of you have asked if you will receive a pro-rated refund for housing and meal plans for the remainder of this semester. You can expect to receive another email communication from the college before the end of this week with further details about how refunds and credits will be handled and applied to your student account.

We know this is a difficult and confusing time for all you – trust us, we’re right there with you. We also know this is far from an ideal situation, particularly for our graduating seniors. Please know that we’re here to try to make things function as smoothly and safely as possible, and that we’re here to support you however we can.

Sincerely,

Office of Residential Life
Division of Student Affairs