They’re coming…

Students begin moving into Northeastern University residence halls on Aug. 27, and the university is ready to ensure everything runs smoothly and successfully.

“It’s truly a team effort,” says Chong Kim-Wong, vice chancellor and dean of students. “It’s a lot of coordination, a lot of communication and it’s a lot of people.”

Emily Hardman, assistant dean of student programming and communications, agrees, calling move-in a “well-oiled machine.”

“We’ve got everyone working to make sure that this is successful,” Hardman says.

About 11,000 students will be soon moving into residence halls on the Boston campus between Sunday, Aug. 27, and Monday, Sept. 4. 

On Aug. 30 and 31, 900 students will be moving onto Northeastern’s Oakland campus, and nearly 1,000 will move into housing at Northeastern in London over the weekend of Sept. 2 and 3.

First-year Northeastern-London students will be in university-sponsored accommodations with full Residence Life support, according to Matthew Greenwood, residence life manager for the U.K. campus.

The goal is to make move-in as stress-free and smooth as possible. 

Staggered move-in at Boston campus

With so many students moving onto the Boston campus, the Division of Student Life has staggered the move-in dates over the week and assigned students a specific day and time to arrive. 

“Staggering is a key part of all this planning,” Hardman says. “We try to encourage students and families to stick to these times to make it easier for them.”

Hardman explains that staggering the dates and times of move-ins helps prevent overwhelming one area of campus with traffic, eases congestion and enables volunteers to offer curbside concierge service to students. 

It also helps keep move-in more manageable. The number of students arriving can range from roughly 250 students on Friday, Sept. 1, to almost 1,000 students on Monday, Sept. 4. Move-in occurs between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Nevertheless, the university advises students to be prepared for some congestion on city streets.

“This is sort of a reality that many, many universities and colleges in the area are moving in at the same time or around the same time,” Kim-Wong says. “We tell people to anticipate the congestion of the city, but really work with the City and Community Engagement Department at Northeastern and the city of Boston to ensure that streets are as clear as possible.”

Charter buses from the airports in Oakland and London

Students arriving at Northeastern campuses in Oakland and London will have a ride to campus as the university has chartered buses.

For students on the Oakland campus who signed up, chartered shuttle buses from San Francisco International Airport will bring them to campus. Teams will meet and greet the students at the airport and direct them to the buses. 

Charter buses for Northeastern students in London will also be available at Heathrow International Airport. The buses will leave once the flights assigned to them arrive or they reach capacity, whichever comes first, Greenwood says.

Arriving on campus and finding help

Once you have bested the traffic and arrive on one of the three Northeastern residential campuses, there will be plenty of people available to help and lots of signs telling people where to go.

Students at the Oakland campus should start the move-in and check-in process at the “T,” the intersection of Richards and Kapiolani roads.

A few hundred people from across the university will be volunteering during move-in week to help students, all wearing red move-in shirts.

These volunteers will direct students through campus, showing students where to go to check in and where to go to unload, help unload vehicles and deliver your belongings to your room, then direct families to a nearby lot where they can park while helping students unpack. Professional moving companies will also be on hand to help move items, Hardman notes. Moreover, resident assistants will also be available in the dorms. 

And don’t worry, if you forgot your room assignment or Husky Card, or neglected to print out a parking pass; volunteers and RAs will be there to help.

“For a university our size and in such an urban location, it’s an amazing and very efficient process,” Kim-Wong says. “We come out there with our A game, ready to go, and knowing this should be a wonderful experience for families and students.”

Tips and tricks

Perhaps the most important tip is to pack light. Only bring essentials and a few personal touches. Ideally, a student’s belongings can fit in one or two moving hampers and can be moved in one trip. 

And if you forget something? In Boston and Oakland, students will have plenty of opportunities during move-in week to go on trips to pick up whatever else they might need at Target, Ikea and other stores. 

Also, get excited! Take advantage of the events Northeastern has planned for move-in day and Welcome Week, connect with other students and get ready for an incredible Northeastern experience.

“There’s so much happening — over 300 events happening over Welcome Week alone,” Hardman says. “There’s no shortage of things to do.”

Cyrus Moulton is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email him at c.moulton@northeastern.edu. Follow him on Twitter @MoultonCyrus.