UConn’s campuses will transform in coming days to bustling centers of activity and excitement as thousands of Huskies return for fall semester, including about 12,100 students moving into Storrs residence halls and roughly 470 moving into the Stamford campus residence.
Early arrivals for the 2019-2020 academic year began the weekend of Aug. 16 at Storrs. Freshmen start moving in to residence halls at 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23, followed by upperclassmen and transfer students over the weekend.
Overall, about 24,200 undergraduate students will start classes Monday at Storrs and the regional campuses. Many thousands of additional students are also enrolled at other locations in UConn’s schools of law, medicine, and dental medicine.
Some students moving into Storrs residence halls might find themselves with an unexpected helper: Thomas Katsouleas, who took over Aug. 1 as UConn’s new president, plans to don casual clothes and comfortable shoes as he meets incoming students and their families at various residence halls, and helps haul their belongings to their rooms.
He’ll be joined by many of the UConn administrators and staff members in the Department of Student Affairs, and the Husky Haulers – a program of student and employee volunteers that started in 1997 – will have more than 900 people pitching in at residence halls throughout campus.
Most of the major summer construction at UConn Storrs will be wrapped up before freshmen start moving in Friday, although drivers may experience some spots where roads are closed or traffic patterns are changed to accommodate move-in weekend.
That’s especially expected to be the case around Hilltop Apartments, since parts of Jim Calhoun Way remain closed due to construction in the nearby Athletics District.
Traffic patterns will also be changed around the North and Northwest complexes, as check-in areas are set up for incoming students and vehicles are directed to staging locations nearby until their turn to park and unload at the buildings.
Students moving to Storrs are being asked to pay special attention to guidance from the University to help make their move-in easier amid the construction process.
Specifics on traffic restrictions and staged check-in areas have been provided on the UConn Office of Residential Life’s arrival information website and sent directly to students, and signs will be posted that apply to the various residential areas.
The University also is reminding drivers that they should not rely on GPS, because those mapping services won’t reflect the altered traffic patterns and detours necessitated by construction and move-in schedules.
For instance, all traffic is one-way on Alumni Drive between Hillside Road and Hilltop Apartments this week. The service road into the Alumni Quad (Watson, Belden, Brock, and Eddy halls) will be one-way on Thursday morning and again all day on Friday and Saturday.
People moving into the Hilltop halls, Werth, North, and Northwest complexes should enter the campus from Discovery Drive, which connects to Route 44 at its northern end and carries traffic directly toward the heart of campus.
Since the Storrs campus population will jump significantly this week – particularly on Friday and over the weekend – UConn Police are reminding drivers and pedestrians to exercise caution and extend consideration for one another.
Drivers must always yield to pedestrians, and pedestrians should always use crosswalks where available. Those rules apply not only at UConn’s Storrs campus, but also on the city and town roads around UConn’s regional campuses.
Drivers who are not part of move-in or work-related traffic are being encouraged to use alternate routes on and around the Storrs campus during daylight hours on Friday and over the weekend to avoid delays from the heavier-than-usual traffic and detours.
The University’s Parking Services office provides information on its site (www.park.uconn.edu/) about parking options and passes at various campuses, rules and regulations, and the policy for the proper use of motor bikes, mopeds, and scooters on campus.
Several changes have occurred in parking patterns with the opening of the new Lot K on Discovery Drive and the need to close some other lots as part of development of the Northwest Science Quad, which starts construction this winter.
Newly updated parking maps have also been posted online to show the changes, which will be helpful as returning students and others determine where to park this year.
UConn’s bus fleet will have an adjusted schedule for the move-in weekend, which has been posted on its website.
Buses resume their regular weekday schedule early Monday morning, but some routes have changed, particularly in light of new parking arrangements at various spots on campus, so check the Transportation Services web page for updates.
Students and their families can also text “UConnMove19” to 888-777 to receive alerts and updates related to move-in day, and UConn’s social media (@UConn) channels on Twitter and Instagram will provide additional updates throughout move-in weekend.
