During freshmen move-in across campus, Clemson Home has eliminated move-in volunteers due to a lack of volunteers and shifts in processes post-COVID.
“We started a new Check-In Process at a remote location in Fall 2020 with COVID protocols and no volunteers, and have continued that process since then,” commented Tracy Foss, the Director of Housing Administration.
Although COVID led to the complete elimination of volunteers, there was a decline in volunteers from years before 2020.
“Prior to Fall 2020, we had seen a significant decrease in volunteers each year since most of our move in days are during the week and there are other competing priorities for the volunteers’ availability,” said Foss.
Only current seniors of the Class of 2023 were moving in on-campus when volunteers were present. 
“I remember moving in during my freshman year, and the volunteers made a huge difference with me getting all of my things into my dorm. I personally think that the volunteers are very helpful, so to hear that it was another thing that stopped after the pandemic is unfortunate. I wish Clemson would bring that back for freshmen, so they aren’t too overwhelmed with moving and taking the Clemson Experience in,” said senior mechanical engineering major Johnathon Ward.
Students of the Class of 2026 are the third class to not have a move-in experience with volunteer help on-campus.
“I didn’t even know that there used to be volunteers,” stated Grace Dyenson, a freshman philosophy major. “I would say that it was a very hectic experience moving into my dorm, but I was fortunate to have family here to help me. I think that students with less help could have definitely benefited from getting help from volunteers, and I would have liked to meet more Clemson students that had been here before and knew the ropes. Hopefully they consider bringing them back next year.”
Clemson Housing has made no moves on plans for the future and has stated their intent to move forward with the new check-in process without volunteers.
“As the decrease in volunteers continued and the new check-in process has continued, we decided to no longer offer volunteers as an option,” Foss concluded. “At this time, we do not expect to bring back the volunteers for move-ins in the future.”