{"637705":{"#nid":"637705","#data":{"type":"news","title":"First-Year Students Arrive on Campus for Revamped Move-In and New Week of Welcome ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERoughly 2,600 new Yellow Jackets ferried clothes, computers, refrigerators, and boxes into their on-campus homes August 8 and 9, the first signs of a new academic year beginning at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was no ordinary move-in experience for those first-year students, who were presented with a revamped approach to campus arrival designed to maintain social distancing and limit contact. Among the biggest changes: They selected a specific check-in time slot via a new smartphone app, and they got their keys and BuzzCard without ever leaving their vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe return to campus move-in and living has all been designed with the health and safety of students and employees as a top priority.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This has taken months of planning with help from lots of campus partners \u0026mdash; from Parking and Transportation, to Environmental Health and Safety, to Facilities, to Dining,\u0026rdquo; said Sheree Gibson, director of Residence Life. \u0026ldquo;This is a full campus effort to make this happen in the safest, most socially distant way possible.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs usual, volunteers were on hand to help families find their way, but there was never more than a handful of students moving into any particular building at one time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn each dorm, students found a wellness kit with hand sanitizer, a thermometer, and a cloth face covering \u0026mdash; complete with the Georgia Tech logo, of course, to get their school spirit collection started.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The whole Tech community has been working like a well-oiled machine,\u0026rdquo; first-year student Landon Wilson told WSB-TV. \u0026ldquo;I am so ready to get back to school after sitting in my room for five months.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGibson said, even with the changes, the special feeling of arriving at college was still there.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The energy of the students and the families is still really high. The ones that I\u0026rsquo;ve interacted with have been thankful and pleased \u0026mdash; they can tell the level of intentionality that has gone into what we\u0026rsquo;re doing,\u0026rdquo; Gibson said. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s been really affirming.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new smartphone app, called Georgia Tech Mobile Ordering, also offers students the keys to other services on campus this fall, including options to make reservations at dining halls or to order food in West Village or the Dining Hub in the new Exhibition Hall. (Download the app in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/transact-mobile-ordering\/id1494719529\u0022\u003EApple App Store\u003C\/a\u003E or the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blackboard.mobileorder\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0022\u003EGoogle Play Store\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ve completely reevaluated how we deliver dining services on campus,\u0026rdquo; said Ryan Greene, director of Auxiliary Services. \u0026ldquo;Our main focus is spreading out food across campus and giving students as many options as we can in different areas. We still want to provide a really good experience \u0026mdash; whether that\u0026rsquo;s extensive grab-and-go options, more food trucks, and pop-up food stands.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new app also connects students with a slate of events as part of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/welcomehome.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWeek of Welcome\u003C\/a\u003E, a new initiative to introduce first-year students to campus that has quickly pivoted mostly online.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents will find virtual panels with older students, virtual comedy shows, an online magic show, and a mix of in-person and online games and activities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMove-in picks back up August 13 when thousands of returning students start arriving on campus for the fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe first 2,600 or so students to arrive back on campus found a drive-through check-in and socially distant move-in ahead of a week of mostly virtual welcome events.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The first 2,600 or so students to arrive back on campus found a drive-through check-in and socially distant move-in ahead of a week of mostly virtual welcome events."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2020-08-10 12:04:40","changed_gmt":"2020-08-10 19:30:11","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-08-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-08-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"637684":{"id":"637684","type":"image","title":"First-year Move-in 2020","body":null,"created":"1596924560","gmt_created":"2020-08-08 22:09:20","changed":"1596924560","gmt_changed":"2020-08-08 22:09:20","alt":"Happy students push a bin of belongings toward their on-campus home for the 2020-21 academic year during move-in weekend for first-year students. (Photo: Christopher Moore)","file":{"fid":"242537","name":"First-year-Move-in-2020-Students-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Students-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Students-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1466753,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Students-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg?itok=xsjlzpqU"}},"637686":{"id":"637686","type":"image","title":"First-Year Move-in 2020 Cabrera Assists","body":null,"created":"1596924824","gmt_created":"2020-08-08 22:13:44","changed":"1596924824","gmt_changed":"2020-08-08 22:13:44","alt":"Georgia Tech President \u00c1ngel Cabrera pushes a refrigerator to a room for a first-year student moving into on-campus housing during the first weekend of move-in ahead of the 2020-21 academic year. (Photo: Christopher Moore)","file":{"fid":"242539","name":"First-year-Move-in-2020-Cabrera-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Cabrera-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Cabrera-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1964309,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Cabrera-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg?itok=cPesZHVs"}},"637685":{"id":"637685","type":"image","title":"First-Year Move-in 2020 Checking In","body":null,"created":"1596924700","gmt_created":"2020-08-08 22:11:40","changed":"1596924700","gmt_changed":"2020-08-08 22:11:40","alt":"A volunteer checks in a first-year student arriving on campus during move-in weekend. For 2020, Housing and Residence Life debuted a drive-up check-in process to maintain social distance and control crowds at residence halls. (Photo: Christopher Moore)","file":{"fid":"242538","name":"First-year-Move-in-2020-Drive-Thru-Check-in-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Drive-Thru-Check-in-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Drive-Thru-Check-in-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1378271,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/First-year-Move-in-2020-Drive-Thru-Check-in-by-Christopher-Moore-h.jpg?itok=Jb9XJIXH"}}},"media_ids":["637684","637686","637685"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/welcomehome.gatech.edu\/","title":"Week of Welcome"},{"url":"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blackboard.mobileorder\u0026hl=en_US","title":"Georgia Tech Mobile Ordering app - Android"},{"url":"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/transact-mobile-ordering\/id1494719529","title":"Georgia Tech Mobile Ordering app - iPhone"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"40471","name":"freshman move-in"},{"id":"172227","name":"move-in"},{"id":"68301","name":"first-year students"},{"id":"10221","name":"Campus Housing"},{"id":"185203","name":"week of welcome"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jstewart@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404.894.6016\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}