New Jags move-in next week. Want to help?

The time is almost here. Starting next week, a new group of students will be moving in to their residence hall rooms and beginning their time here at Augusta University. Housing and Residence Life is working to make this transition as stress free as possible, and are looking for some members of the university community to volunteer their time and energy to help move in our newest Jaguars.

This is the third year that Housing and Residence Life is hosting an assisted move-in for the new students, but there are a few changes.

“Because of feedback we’ve received from our students, and due to the number of students we will have this year, we’ve divided move-in into two days,” said Dr. Heather Schneller, director of Housing and Residence Life.

The first day is Friday, Aug. 10, and will be an unassisted moving day where students and their families can move their items into their rooms. Saturday, Aug. 11, will be the big kickoff move-in day, with volunteers readily there to help and assist in the move-in process.

“With all of our efforts, we can create a stress free move-in for our students and their families,” said Schneller.

Similar to previous years, the process goes quickly.

Beginning with a ‘rapid unload,’ new students will pull their car through to the rapid unload lane where a couple of things will happen.

First, volunteers will help to quickly unload each vehicle into a large cart. Volunteers will go with the students and those driving will move the car into another location to park.

Second, the volunteers will take the items up to the students’ rooms, unload the cart and allow the parents, family members and students to unpack with ease.

“We often tell parents to communicate early and often about their plan for the day because we understand that it’s going to be a highly emotional day,” said Schneller. “Whether that’s filled with happiness or sadness, we know that there’s going to be all of the emotions, and we want to make sure we’re cognizant of that.”

So what can volunteers expect?

Alongside a t-shirt, volunteers will have a morning filled with activity, the opportunity to talk to Augusta University Police Department, snacks, drinks and plenty of fun.

During the move-in process, roads surrounding the residence halls will be shut down in order to better serve the incoming students.

Spellman will be shut down as the designated rapid-unload lane, Goss will be closed off and John Wesley Gilbert will have an AUPD officer there as well. Families and volunteers will still be able to park in the parking deck and the in the gravel lot across from Oak Hall, but there will be no access to Spellman as an exit.

Here’s a map.

For those wanting to volunteer, you can still sign up to help move-in the new Jags.

“This year we’re going to host several orientation sessions to explain the move-in process and to talk about time and expectations,” said Schneller. “Our hope is, through these orientation sessions, volunteers will feel more prepared when they report to Oak Hall.”

Sessions are taking place the first full week of August, and there are plenty of ways to help with move-in. If you are interested in attending any orientation session, Housing and Residence Life will have more information available.

“We’re just appreciative of all the assistance we can get,” said Schneller. “We know we’re going to have a full house this year, and we want to make sure that all of our new Jaguars know how excited we are that they’re joining our family.”

Want to help?

You can sign up as an individual, an office, a student organization, or a department. To sign up as a Move-In volunteer, complete the online form with the following information.

• Name(s) of volunteer (or each member of volunteer group)
• E-mail address(es) for all volunteers
• Department/Office/Group/Organization
• T-shirt size(s) for all volunteers
• Medical restrictions (to help with your volunteer placement and assignment)
• Any other special information or requests

If you are signing up a group or team of volunteers, please complete one form for each volunteer.

How can you help?

Volunteers can help by assisting in unloading cars, moving resident items up to their rooms and, most importantly, welcoming our students to their Augusta University home.

When can you help?

Saturday, Aug. 11th

Volunteers needed from 6:45 a.m. until 12 p.m. We would like a commitment for the entire shift, but we are willing to work with the schedules of our volunteers. Volunteers will be needed to assist at both Oak and Elm residence halls.