University braces for annual mass influx of students

It’s a good thing they’re athletes because members of the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus Heat sports teams will get plenty of exercise this weekend when they help 1,700 students move into campus residences. This is not the first time fourth-year Human Kinetics students and volleyball players Alex Basso, front, and Kaylan Gouldsborough will help with the big move. Both the men’s and women’s volleyball and basketball teams volunteer their time.

1,700 students move into UBC campus residences

In a single weekend, the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus will be jolted from its summer slumber and morphed into a beehive of activity as 1,700 students arrive to start another academic year.

Students begin moving into on-campus residences en masse Sunday and Monday and helping them find their new homes, move their belongings and square everything away is no simple task. Resembling choreographed chaos, UBC staff and volunteers help make the massive influx of people go as smoothly as possible.

“This is a huge logistical exercise and we want to make sure that students are moved in and get settled as effortlessly as possible,” says Ian Cull, associate vice president of students for UBC’s Okanagan campus. “We want students and their families to have an enriching and rewarding experience from the moment they first set foot on campus. Our staff and volunteers are dedicated to ensure that happens.”

One of the first challenges to deal with is the steady stream of cars bringing students, their families and their belongings to the campus.

“There are 1,700 students living here and every one of them has to bring their stuff in,” says Rayna Gibbs with campus parking services.

Members of the Heat sports teams will be on hand to help with the move and Gibbs says there are so many people helping, the moves are done quickly.

The vehicles will queue in H parking lot before being directed in groups to student residences in an unending cavalcade across campus all weekend.

Shannon Dunn, director of housing and conferences, says all of the new students will move in on Sunday, with the returning students moving in Monday or later.

There is also a waiting list of students hoping to find an on-campus home.

While students are the main focus of Move-In Weekend, Michelle Lowton and her staff will be helping parents with any concerns they might have.

Lowton, the associate director of student development and advising, says they recognized several years ago the need to help parents adjust to sending their child off to university.

“This generation of parents is far more involved than any generation before,” says Lowton. “We try to help them as much as we can.”

Sunday afternoon, parents can attend a parent conference at the Charles Fipke Centre for Innovative Research to get some tips on campus life and an idea of what university will be like for their student.

There will also be extended hours on the weekend for the UBC bookstore and library as follows:

• Bookstore hours
  Sunday Sept. 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday Sept. 5, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday Sept. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Library hours
  Sunday Sept. 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday Sept. 5, 9 a.m. to 5p.m.; Tuesday Sept. 6, 7 a.m. to midnight.

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