Three students carrying boxes of belongings, excited to be moving in

Early Arrival Students

Students are expected to make arrangements for move-in based on their assigned move-in dates. Only students who are approved through the Office of Housing and Residence Life may return prior to official opening dates. The criteria for approval of an early arrival center on whether a student’s work or presence is essential for orientation or opening. Students will not be allowed to move in or receive a room key unless they are approved.

Early arrivals are highly discouraged and must be based on the student’s need to be on campus and not convenience, including travel convenience. As a result, Grinnell grants very few requests for early arrival outside the parameters noted below. It may be necessary for parents to take a day off from work to move a student, so families are asked to plan accordingly. If you have questions, please email the Office of Housing and Residence Life.

All requests for early arrivals are subject to the availability of the space where the student is assigned to live.

Sponsoring Early Arriving Students

Work supervisors, coaches, or department heads are provided access to the sponsorship roster in order to provide a list of their students who they have approved to arrive early. Some of the groups of students who typically arrive early include:
- Student-athletes
- Dining
- Mail center
- Residence Life
- New Student Orientation
- Early arriving students for programs like Grinnell Science Project, International Pre-Orientation Program, and Peer Connections Pre-Orientation Program are also allowed to return early.
Each program/office will have its own tab on the OneDrive spreadsheet. There is a column for indicating the person entering the data as well as a column for supervising the employee among other pertinent fields. This would mean we need the individual’s name who is entering all the information into the spreadsheet as well as the person we should contact as the student’s supervisor/coach in case there are issues.
Student employees that are studying abroad for the fall 2023 semester are not eligible for early arrival.
This year’s deadline to enter early arriving employees is Monday, July 17, 2023.
Enter all of your early arrival students, and employees even if you know they are returning early for another department or program and/or are living in off-campus housing during the academic year.

The Housing and Residence Life office will coordinate arrival details with campus departments, supervisors, and coaches; students will receive specific check-in information from the respective department, supervisor, or coach. The department, team, or supervisor is required to provide an interim meal plan from the date the student arrives until the student’s fall meal plan begins.

Note: Departments that wish to plan a student retreat must hold the retreat after the assigned move-in date.

Summer Housing

Students who are living in campus-owned housing for the summer will be transitioned to their fall room assignment during the weekend of Aug. 4-7.

Requesting An Exception

Students sitting together on the ground outside of a dorm room

We understand there can be extenuating circumstances that require early arrival. A student shall provide a detailed written request to the Housing and Residence Life office no later than 5 business days before the requested move-in date.

Requests to arrive prior to the fall move-in date will not be approved for the following reasons:

Roommate already on campus
Students who are hoping to move in because their roommate(s) have already been approved will not be granted permission for early arrival. Unauthorized early arrivals will be billed a $100 per day early arrival fee, may be asked to leave, and face disciplinary action.
Just want to be back
If there is no legitimate reason for a student to be back on campus early, the request will not be approved. Unauthorized early arrivals will be billed a $100 per day early arrival fee, may be asked to leave, and face disciplinary action.

Move-In Crew

Students who are approved to return early (prior to new student move-in on Aug. 18) and who are not sponsored to return early will be part of Housing and Residence Life’s move-in crew. The move-in crew is a group of about 60 returning students who have agreed to assist first-year students with moving in on Aug. 18. Move-in crew students will be stationed at various residence halls on campus awaiting students’ arrival. The move-in crew students arrive two days before first-year students move in and need to be prepared to meet the following criteria:

Arrive on Aug. 16.
Attend a mandatory move-in crew meeting (food provided).
Work at least four hours.
Sign in and out before and after shift.

Members of the move-in crew will receive a t-shirt that they are expected to wear during their shift.

Dropping Items Off

Grinnell will consider requests to move possessions into a room without the student staying in the room if there are extenuating circumstances. Students must make requests for “drop-and-gos” by calling or emailing the Housing and Residence Life office two weeks prior to arrival. Students will be assessed a $100 drop-and-go fee and will be given access to their rooms during regular work hours only (8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday). The drop-and-go period begins the Monday that precedes the official College first-year student move-in date.

Accountability

Students who are approved to be on campus are expected to uphold Grinnell College policies and regulations. Any student found to be residing on campus who has not received approval will be asked to leave campus and could face disciplinary actions. Any student found to have provided access to a student who is not approved for early arrival may also face disciplinary action.