Traffic & Staffing Plans Create Order

After the students have been accepted, gone through orientation, and received their housing assignments, they need to get to campus. Part of the planning process involves determining the most efficient routes to the students’ respective residence halls and parking areas. The NC State campus consists of several two-lane roads, so a proper traffic plan must be in place to keep vehicles moving and prevent backups. Keith Piper, NC State Event Parking Coordinator, has been with the university for one year, but before that, he worked for the third-party parking company that staffed the traffic control officers and parking attendants dispersed around campus during move-in. “I did not realize how much collaboration really goes into move-in, and how many different pieces, departments, and people, in general, are working move-in making sure it goes smoothly,” Piper said.

Piper puts together a staffing plan utilizing a third-party parking company, in addition to the NC State Transportation Enforcement Officers and department staff, to help direct traffic and monitor the parking lots. This enables families to get to the appropriate lot to unload their belongings. “One of the biggest challenges was coming up with a parking plan, and a detailed list of responsibilities for each of the different parking staff and team members in the field,” Piper said. “Previously, it was just a short meeting the day of move-in, but this year I went out and created a different parking cheat sheet for team members who are out in the field.” To complement the information provided to staff, a website was created and sent to the students and their families containing downloadable directions to the unloading areas and long-term parking for their residence halls.

“I will say that move-in at NC State has always gone well. Since the start of my tenure, it’s never been a big mess or problem,” Ruppe said. “I think it’s gotten stronger in more recent years, but it’s always been a successful process.”

—Kathleen Ruppe, Director of Housing Operations

Once they are on campus, there are staff members at specific intersections to help guide them to the appropriate location. Vehicle windshields are marked with their building name so that as they are arriving, staff can continue to direct them without having to stop them. At the long-term parking area, 12-foot banners are located at the entrance to the lot as a visual directional cue. All of these steps were taken to keep vehicles moving.

Appointments Create Ease at Drop-Off

While COVID has forced the university to rethink some aspects of the move-in weekend, the main parts of the process have lasted the test of time. Kathleen Ruppe, Director of Housing Operations, has been at NC State for 19 years and serves as Chair of the Move-In Committee for the university. She has been very happy with the move-in. “I will say that move-in at NC State has always gone well. Since the start of my tenure, it’s never been a big mess or problem,” Ruppe said. “I think it’s gotten stronger in more recent years, but it’s always been a successful process.”

One change instituted in response to COVID regulations and then kept as it benefited the process was the shift to move-in appointments. Before COVID, a schedule was set for an open move-in, now students are given appointment times which regulate and spreads out the traffic. “The biggest change now is that we have appointments. We didn’t do that previously and the pandemic brought about that need—we liked the results,” Ruppe said. “We are keeping with it, as it staggers the arrival times. In the past, they could arrive at any time, and you’d get a big onslaught of people all at once and then it would die down, then another big onslaught.”

Changing to appointments allowed for fewer ebbs and flows and a more consistent arrival status. It was easier to have the right number of staff on hand and to make sure bins and carts were available, so the families aren’t standing around too long waiting to move into rooms. Switching to appointments also allowed us to track the trends for future improvements. “The people like the appointments,” Ruppe said. “A lot of good feedback, not just internally, but from the families who like it compared to years past or other campuses.”

Right Sizing the Staff Schedule

Scott Wallace is the Assistant Director for Housing Facilities and has been at NC State for 14 years. He works closely with Ruppe to create a staffing schedule for the move-in weekend. With all the activity during the weekend, having enough staff, especially in those key, high-traffic areas, is critical to making sure that the process runs smoothly and efficiently. The number of staff needed to run an operation of this size is in the hundreds per day. For the buildings that do not have convenient parking, drop-and-go locations were created, and staff were needed for those areas to be cart runners, unload area management, and watch belongings while vehicles are moved to long-term parking. “Giving folks time slots for move-in, we were able to set the expectations with students and parents to manage these drop-and-go locations. Vehicles pull up, offloading their move-in items, and then park so the next round of vehicles can come and do the same,” Wallace said. “It’s just setting the expectation and managing the drop-off and move process to stay fast and organized. Once they drop off and park their vehicle, they can take as long as they want to unpack in the rooms.”

Luggage Train

Wallace also works closely with the General Shop, Transportation and Grounds on the coordination of the “luggage train.” The luggage train runs from the Coliseum Parking Deck to the area called the Tri-Towers. These residence halls are located in an area that has no parking, and can be challenging to access with large amounts of belongings. This operation is overseen by Sarah Ketchem, a 16-year NC State veteran and the Director of Grounds and Building Services within the Facilities department.