ASU to welcome 13,000 students into residence halls
Both families and students may shed a few tears as they say “goodbye.” But both will be starting a grand adventure as students begin moving into campus housing at ASU this weekend.
More than 13,000 students will move into the residence halls at ASU Aug. 14-17, about 10,000 of them on the Tempe campus. ASU staff and volunteers at all four campuses will hoist computers and mini-fridges from cars, helping families make the trek to their students’ rooms in a “cruise ship” style check-in.
Palo Verde Main hall will even feature a telehandler, similar to a forklift, on Saturday, lifting belongings up two or three floors to an opening in the side of the building. This beats negotiating the stairs.
Demand for on-campus housing is strong, with most halls reaching capacity. Freshmen are expected to live on campus, and an increased number of returning students have reapplied for housing, realizing the benefits of on-campus living.
Tempe has 14 halls and three apartment complexes, divided into neighborhoods to provide academic support services and activities to help students connect with each other. Within neighborhoods, smaller living-learning communities are organized to link students by interest or major.
A record 1,200 students are expected to move into Taylor Place on the Downtown Phoenix Campus on Aug. 16, more than double the number when the campus opened two years ago. Taylor Place residents will enjoy a brand new Devil’s Den recreation center, a 2,000-square-foot space outfitted with game tables, large-screen TV sets with Blu Ray DVD players and video game consoles.
The Polytechnic campus in Mesa will welcome another 1,200 residents to its halls and family housing on Aug. 16, with spaces also made available to students enrolled in Maricopa County Community College classes. A new Global Village is opening for international students.
Freshmen at the West campus will move into Las Casas on Aug. 14 for two days of Camp Solera, an orientation and getting-to-know-you weekend. Returning students move in on Aug. 16. West campus will house about 340 students.
Check-in at the Tempe campus begins at 7 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena all four days and features a streamlined, paperless process, as part of ASU’s commitment to sustainability. Students will have completed their forms online and will swipe their Sun Devil ID cards to receive their housing assignments on a personalized label.
As a respite from the heat, campus dining contractor ARAMARK will provide chilled towels, promotional water bottles, free water stations throughout campus and also bottled water for purchase.
New this year among Tempe’s 35 dining locations are two new venues on Forest Mall, E2 (E squared), offering made-to-order salads and fresh sandwiches to go; and Dave’s Dog House. There’s a new Subway at Hassayampa Academic Village (HAV) and Freshens frozen yogurt at the Memorial Union (MU).
The markets at the MU and HAV have been renovated to provide more fresh and healthy convenience foods, such as breakfast sandwiches, burritos, wraps, sushi and salads, as well as fresh produce, bakery and coffees. Both will provide vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, and will offer information about origin and nutritional value.
Classes on all campuses begin on Aug. 19. The official Sun Devil Welcome by President Michael Crow will be at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 18, at Wells Fargo Arena, followed by whitewashing the “A” on Tempe Butte.
Among the Welcome Week activities are a free concert Aug. 17 by country recording artist Dierks Bentley and hip-hop artist Chingy at 8 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. An ASU student ID is necessary to get in. For more Welcome Week events, go to http://students.asu.edu/fallwelcome.