UNL makes changes as students move in during coronavirus

With masks, hand sanitizer, and a move in company available, students at UNL got a lot of help on the first day moving in.

(LINCOLN, Neb.)-With masks, hand sanitizer, and a move in company available, students at UNL got a lot of help on the first day moving in.
“Cause I’m on the 12th floor, it was really nice and I have a lot of stuff,” says Gillian Hueske, a freshman.
Hundreds of students lined up at the Bob Devaney track as the first move-in day at UNL kicked off. There, tables were spaced out, and students could get their keys, books, take pictures for their N-card, and sign any needed documents. But at the dorms?
“Folks who are in the bright yellow shirts will unload everything from their vehicle into carts, and then the movers take those carts right up to the student room and unload everything from the cart into the room,” said Tony Rathberger, with UNL Housing.
That’s right. The university hired a private moving company. Rathberger says precautions were taken to limit how many people were in elevators and in the move-in process.
“Folks are being asked to just bring one carload of their supplies with them,” said Rathberger. “So, we have fewer vehicles that are coming to campus. We’ve also limited to two people with every student during move-in.”
He says UNL set a four-day move-in schedule to space students out to help with social distancing.
“I think it’s gone pretty smooth,” said Hueske. “There’s a long wait at Devaney, but other than that, everything’s been pretty smooth. It’s a lot, but I think they’ve done a good job here and I think it will be good.”
The move-in help was at no cost to students but, Rathberger says that could change if the efforts are needed in the future. For now, parents are thankful. This mother helped her freshman son move in.
“Considering the pandemic and the number of people arriving, I can’t complain,” says Gloria Pospisil. “I think things were well thought out and well planned, so we appreciate all the effort that went into it.”