The first of more than 3,100 students who will be living in UWM residence halls this year started moving in on Saturday. That’s a substantial increase over last year.
Move-in times are staggered throughout much of the week to help allow for social distancing and to avoid overcrowding of parking garages and elevators, according to Arcetta Knautz, director of University Housing.
A number of extra precautions were planned for this year’s Move-In because of COVID-19 concerns. Students, families and helpers were required to wear masks inside the buildings and parking garages. Students were encouraged to limit the number of helpers to two people. Staff regularly cleaned high-touch common areas, and hand sanitizer was available.
The residence halls have added some new amenities for this year. A big change from last year is a new guest policy that allows students to bring two guests at a time into the halls, Knautz said. Sandburg Hall will re-open its resource/study/social space, which was closed last year, for students to do group work or to hang out.
The remodeled Sandburg North Tower will feature newly renovated suite bathrooms and new kitchenettes in the lounges. A new, larger kitchen with gathering space will be available on the third floor, similar to the one in the South Tower. This area will also have two new elevators that will stop at all floors, with a third one available for the second semester.
