Each year, thousands of students move into dormitories on campus at Auburn University, and many of those students are freshmen. The new students usually toil with furniture in the heat, having only their family members to help with this staple move in their academic career. However, Auburn has come up with a solution to this reoccurring problem.
Auburn's department of housing and residence life in the division of student affairs will host Move-In Mania this fall in order to make moving in easier on dorm residents.
Move-In Mania is a program that utilizes student and faculty volunteers to aid students in the move in process.
The dates for Move-In Mania are Sunday, Aug. 5 and Saturday, Aug. 11, from 6:30-11 a.m. at all campus residence halls.
"Move-in Mania is our carefully orchestrated move-in process in early August to make that experience as painless as possible for our soon-to-be residents and their parents," said Kim Trupp, director of housing and residence life. "Students are assigned to move-in [in] waves to minimize congestion, thereby making it easier to move their stuff into their residence halls. University staff and many volunteers from both the campus and greater Auburn community assist with greeting students and helping them move in."
The amount of volunteers is growing exponentially with each passing day, and housing and residence life encourages anyone and everyone to aid the incoming students.
"We want to ramp up our effort this year so the newcomers don't have to move all their belongings in alone," said Emily Crane, move-in intern for housing and residence life. "We have more than 250 volunteers now, and we expect that number to climb before Aug. 5."
Potential volunteers should know that there are several jobs that will be required of them should they join the effort.
The "movers" will help the students transport their belongings into the dorms while the "greeters" will welcome new residents and families and answer any questions they may have about life on Auburn's campus. "Refreshment providers" will provide everyone participating in this effort with cold water.
Volunteers wiill be needed from 6:30-9 a.m. and 8:30-11 a.m. on both August move-in dates.
Along with the reward of helping new members of the Auburn family, volunteers will receive a raffle ticket for every hour they work and a complimentary tee shirt.
Incoming freshmen are looking to utilize this unique and free service, especially because it is less time they have to spend out in the heat.
"It sounds like a great idea," said Allison Childress, incoming Auburn freshman. "I'm going to need help when I move in, so I'll definitely appreciate those volunteers."
Another freshman had a similar outlook.
"I have so much stuff to move into my dorm," said Ann Ashton. "I am glad to know there will be someone there to help me during all that stress."
It goes to show that the volunteer work put forth by the faculty and students will not go unnoticed by the new students.
Those interested in volunteering may contact Crane at eac0007@auburn.edu and include his or her name, T-shirt size, email address, preferred position, and shift time.
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