More than 1,000 excited UAB freshmen and their pumped and/or tearful parents will have plenty of help as they tote bags of clothes, stacks of books and other personal belongings to their new homes on campus Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011.
Scores of volunteers representing nearly 30 UAB student organizations will help the new class of freshmen move into residence halls, says UAB Director of Student Housing Marc Booker.
“They actually provide the physical labor of moving people into the halls. Our volunteers unload the cars and move everything into the rooms for the students and their parents,” Booker says.
Students don’t just bring the basics to school these days — their dorms are kitted out with giant televisions, color-coordinated furniture and other personal luxury items, as well as all the necessities of home, such as towels, bedding, storage containers and toiletries. Lines of people will lug their can’t-live-without belongings into the buildings all day long, with arrival staggered by floor to reduce the time people will have to spend outside in the heat.
Several UAB organizations will provide thousands of bottles of water to the freshmen and their families to help the new arrivals cool off as they do the heavy lifting. In addition, dozens of staffers from various UAB departments will be on hand to greet the new students. Parents can take care of business too, while volunteers help the students.
“We also do a one-stop shop where parents can take care of any business needs, including financial aid, parking, student accounting, campus cards and IT support to set up laptops and desktops,” Booker says. A first aid station will be on site.
The total number of residential students at UAB has grown to more than 2,200. It’s the largest residential population UAB has ever had.
“We will have more than 1,100 freshmen living on campus this year,” Booker says. “It’s a record number of freshmen on campus.”
The freshmen campus residence halls are Blazer Hall, 920 16th St. South, and Camp Hall, 1500 10th Ave. South, just south of Ninth Avenue South and the UAB Campus Recreation Center, which is located at 1501 University Blvd.