UNCW welcomes Class of 2030 as freshman move-in begins

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — New students are settling into their residence halls at the University of North Carolina Wilmington as the university welcomes its Class of 2030.

Wednesday marked the first official day of freshman move-in. This year, UNCW made several changes aimed at making the process smoother and less stressful for students and their families.

“Over the next five days, we are moving in about 6,000 Seahawks into this campus,” said UNCW Chancellor Aswani Volety.

Chancellor Volety said one of the biggest changes was extending move-in from two days to five. Students are also arriving during designated time slots to help reduce congestion around campus and residence halls.

“We spread it out over five days instead of two days, but more importantly, having time slots where the students are coming in, that way not too many people are standing outside the door room waiting for them to move in, we rented every bin in the state to make sure that people have enough bins to move all of their gear into the rooms,” said Volety.

Volety said the changes appeared to be making a difference on the first day.

“So far, looking around, the traffic is moving very smoothly, there isn’t a lot of traffic backed up, the bins are full, people are happy, people are moving in, so, so far it seems to be going very well,” said Volety.

For freshman Kayla Hayes and her roommate, Melanie Jamison, the smoother process came as a welcome surprise.

“My grandma thought it was going to be really chaotic, but then it wasn’t even, because this is the first time they’re doing it like this, because it used to be two days, I feel like having it five days now it’s going to be more spread out, less people there, so I feel like it was less chaotic,” said Hayes.

Danielle Reed, whose daughter Kiera Reed is their suitemate, said she also expected long lines and large crowds but found the move-in experience much easier than anticipated.

“It’s been amazing, super easy, you know, you hear stories of really long waits and challenges getting in, and lots of people and big crowds, and I saw none of that; everyone was helpful,” said Reed.

University officials hope the smooth start continues as thousands more students arrive over the next several days.

Freshman move-in continues through August 16. Drivers traveling near campus should expect increased traffic as students and their families continue arriving.