A whole new look for college move-ins this year — spaced out, masked and sanitized
N.C. State University students and their families lined up outside residence halls Friday morning to start moving into dorms on campus.
Their cars were packed with the typical boxes, bedding and decorations for their rooms, but this year everyone wore face masks and students were asked to have only two people help them move in. There were more cleaning supplies, Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer to unpack than in previous years.
Savannah Sobha, a 17-year-old from Fuquay-Varina, said she was nervous about starting her freshman year because she doesn’t want to get sick. But, she’s mostly excited about being on campus.
“This is so new and I’m glad we were able to come, because I didn’t think I was going to have the college experience at all this year,” Sobha said.
10 days of staggered move-ins
N.C. State is the first large university in the Triangle to welcome the general student population back to campus for the fall semester. The university has spent months planning for the students’ safe return as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in North Carolina.
Each student signed up for a staggered 3-hour time slot to limit the amount of people moving furniture and big, blue IKEA bags in and out of buildings at one time. They dropped off their stuff on the curb and moved the car out of the area to keep it from getting clogged. Students will move into campus dorms by appointment only over the next 10 days before classes start on Aug. 10.
Sobha said she felt really safe moving in. Only one other person was moving in on her hall at the same time.
“The way they’re doing it is really working, and it’ll be beneficial to a lot of students so we don’t get sick,” Sobha said.
She’s ready to participate in virtual and socially distant move-in week events on campus like midnight yoga to meet other students.
The majority of students living on campus will still have a roommate or suitemates for the fall semester, except for students who are immuno-compromised or have pre-existing conditions and have requested a single room. The university is limiting the number of people in residential common areas, including lounges and laundry rooms, and say dorms and bathrooms will be cleaned more frequently.
At check-in, each student was given five face masks and a lanyard for their key. They also signed a housing contract form with information about procedures if campus housing closes like it did in the spring.
One residence life employee said it’s the least stressful move-in day he’s ever worked.
The way move-ins should work in the future?
Nancy Marks volunteered to help students move in and said she’s felt very safe given the policies about wearing masks, social distancing and one-way entrances to the resident halls. Marks, who works at N.C. State, has moved two of her own kids into dorms in the past and said this year is a lot more smooth than previous years.
“This is probably the future actually because it’s very organized and calm,” Marks said.
Move-in starts at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday, at N.C. Central University on Tuesday and at Duke University on Aug. 7. Each campus is taking similar precautions with scheduling appointments over several days and requiring face masks.
Amber Silver, 18, said it won’t be the typical freshman experience. But she’s thankful that the university found a way for students to be on campus this fall, and she isn’t worried about getting COVID-19. Most of her classes are hybrid, so one day her class will be in-person and the next day it will be online.
“I completely trust that they’re doing everything they can to keep everything sanitized and to keep us safe,” Silver said. “I’m glad I’m able to go back to school because the end of my senior year was gone in a flash.”
Her parents helped her move all of her stuff into the dorm. They hoped to be able to set up her room within the three hour window before driving back home to Nashville, N.C. Her new roommate will move in in a couple days.
“I just pray that we won’t be moving this all out in a month,” her mom, Gloria Silver, said. “But we will if we have to.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 3:53 PM.
