How Tulane Makes Move-In Easier

Supply Chain Dive: “When almost 2,000 freshmen showed up at Tulane on Aug. 21, their shipped boxes were already in their rooms. Students pulled up to the dorm at their appointed times, and volunteer ‘krewe’ whisked everything out of the car, transporting belongings in laundry carts to the dorm rooms, while parents moved the cars and students got their ID cards and keys … For the past 18 years, the New Orleans university allowed freshmen to ship boxes to school ahead of arrival, as 90% of its students travel more than 500 miles to get there … Boxes used to be sorted and stored in 53-foot tractor trailers on campus to be claimed on move-in day. But no longer.”

“After successful pilots the last few years, Tulane paid a contractor to sort, store and move shipped boxes into all freshman dorms, freeing up elevator use and lowering parent and student stress levels on what Tulane hopes is an easy and happy first day of About 60 campuses now use USS moving services, with another 40 renting equipment like luggage carts, so the schools don’t have to buy and store them … Tulane is the first school not charging freshmen for the cost to deliver shipped boxes to the room as part of the move-in experience, and other schools are watching with interest.”

“Tulane uses its own off-site warehouse to receive and sort boxes for move-in, plus USS’ rented warehouse. Tulane gave incoming freshmen a special address for a two-week arrival window starting Aug. 1 … During the first few days of the two-week window, 250 packages arrived daily from FedEx to the USS warehouse, and up to 200 packages daily from the other carriers … Students may get an email from USS when their FedEx package is delivered, sometimes with photos of the dorm room number and packages sitting on the bed.”

Mice & Mold: Some Dorms Are Health Risks

The New York Times: “Enduring less-than-ideal living conditions is something of a rite of passage for many college students. While the cost of higher education keeps rising, though, outpacing inflation every year since 1985, maintenance of student dormitories at many institutions has not always kept up. In interviews and exchanges with dozens of students across the country, heating and cooling issues were the most frequent complaints. But some reported much more serious problems, including vermin and mold … Some students are speaking up, taking to social media to expose disrepair that they said their schools were failing to promptly address. They have set up Facebook pages and Instagram profiles to vent about or make light of campus issues large and small.”

“On the Instagram account @georgetown.hotmess, created by Georgetown students in 2016, scrolling through the photos can feel like a visit to a dystopian ruin, not a picturesque Gothic-revival university in Washington. Ceilings are collapsing. Black mold is growing on walls. Rodents, both dead and alive, make several appearances. A young man tries to belly-slide down a flooded hallway … Georgetown spokeswoman, Meghan Dubyak, pointed out that last year was Washington’s wettest on record, and that the university had ‘initiated proactive steps to prevent mold and promptly respond to all reported cases within two business days.’ She added that the Georgetown board of directors had recently allocated $75 million to improve campus infrastructure, with a focus on student residences.”

“Few students move into their dorms expecting ideal conditions. Some said they felt they should simply accept the conditions they found, rather than appear ungrateful for the privilege of attending college. While plenty of students defect for off-campus apartments, the units that students on a budget can afford may not be any better maintained than the dorms. And some universities do not give students the choice, requiring them to live on campus for their first year or longer.”

Which Colleges are Greenest?

E Magazine: “It’s no surprise that College of the Atlantic, established in 1969 as the first American college to focus primarily on the relationship between humans and the environment, has topped the Princeton Review’s Guide to 399 Green Colleges for three years running. With only 350 students and 35 faculty members, small classes and focused learning are the norm at COA, which has been churning out environmental leaders for five decades. It became the first carbon-neutral college in 2007 and plans to be completely rid of fossil fuels on campus by 2030.”

“At the #2 school on the ‘green colleges’ list, SUNY Syracuse’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, students and faculty work together on developing innovative solutions to environmental challenges and can focus on applying what they learn in internships reserved for them with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation … Next on the list, UVM has incorporated sustainability into campus policies and curricula for decades, but has recently shown renewed leadership with its Sustainable Entrepreneurship program and campus-wide commitment to waste reduction and energy conservation. UVM has been sourcing all of its energy from renewables since 2015, with solar panels all over campus to make the most of the fleeting Vermont sun.”

“Some other schools with excellent environmental studies and science programs include Antioch, Reed, Middlebury, Colby, Colorado College, Montana State, Evergreen State, Pomona, and the universities of Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.”