Small College & University Network

Hi, small school peers,

On my campus, we have permitted on campus summer storage since before the beginning of time. We have restrictions like no food, no furniture and you must live x number of miles from campus, but in practice it is pretty much all things goes because no one really owns the process. In an attempt to clean up the process, I have been asked to get rid of it, if possible. 

Before we make changes, I would love to hear your answers to the questions below.

1. Do you permit students to store on campus?  If yes, are there any limitations or parameters?
2. If you do not do on campus storage, do you use a storage service like DRM, Blue Crates or uhaul for summer storage?  If yes, which company and what have you learned from that process (the good, the bad and the ugly, please). 

Any lessons learned would be extremely helpful. 

Jess

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Jessica Sweitzer | Director of Residence Life and Housing
Centre College
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Hi Jessica! Thank you for your valuable question on the open forum regarding summer storage. I understand this question was primarily directed to peers at smaller institutions, and I'd be delighted to contribute my perspective and insights.

At Collegeboxes (U-Haul Summer Storage), we have successfully partnered with Embry-Riddle Prescott, to provide convenient and reliable summer storage options for their students who previously stored on-campus.

Few things to consider when learning about the good, back and the UGLY!

• Cost Transition and Transparency
• Convenience and Accessibility
• Communication and Customer Service
• Security and Insurance

I'm eager to hear feedback from your peers and how this conversation evolves!
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Sophia Hutchinson | Collegeboxes Director

[email protected] | 602-214-6975
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Hi Jessica, we do not allow students to do summer storage on-campus. We partner with Storage Scholars as our preferred storage vendor, but students do use a variety of options. Happy to talk this through if you have specific questions! 

https://www.elon.edu/u/residence-life/facilities/storage-scholars/

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Kirsten Carrier | Assistant Dean of Campus Life and Director of Residence Life
[email protected]
Elon University
Elon, NC
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We are a small (less than 1,000 bed) campus, and we also have a study abroad requirement for our students. We currently provide a storage option for our students through the summer or for up to two semesters. We have some specific guidelines, including only storing items in boxes provided by our office. More details can be found at https://www.goucher.edu/experience/where-you-live/opening-break-and-closing-information/break-storage.

We have also started exploring phasing out our department-managed storage on campus and partnering with an outside vendor, mainly because those vendors can provide more options and flexibility for students than what we can manage internally. We have talked with a few of the companies that were at the Business Operations Conference in October - Storage Squad and Storage Scholars. I know Dorm Room Movers is also an option.

I am happy to share any additional details, if interested.

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John Haky
Associate Director of Residential Life | Goucher College
[email protected]
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Hi Jessica,

We only allow storage for students who are reserved to live in residence in the upcoming year. If a residence student is moving off-campus, they cannot storage their items on campus.

Donna

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Donna Hurley | Director, Administrative Services
Mount Allison University
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Hello everyone - 
At Occidental we do not allow on-campus storage, but we recommend 4 off-campus storage companies, and advertise them on our website for students to consider.  We received legal guidance many years ago that we should recommend more than one, so that the college/university can take less blame if something were to happen with one of the companies. This has continued to work well for us.  I will share that one of the 5 companies we advertise is BoxNGo, and they actually park their pods with banners in a few key spots across campus, which has communicated the spirit of move out and visually help students actively think about this need, rather than waiting until the very last minute.

Best,
Isaiah

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Isaiah Thomas | Assistant Dean & Director of Residential Education, Housing
Occidental College | Los Angeles CA | (651) 206-7940
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2025 10:53 AM
From: Donna Hurley
Subject: Summer Storage

Hi Jessica,

We only allow storage for students who are reserved to live in residence in the upcoming year. If a residence student is moving off-campus, they cannot storage their items on campus.

Donna

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Donna Hurley | Director, Administrative Services
Mount Allison University
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Hello Jessica,

We do not permit storage on campus with one exception. Our international theme house has a storage room in the basement for international student use. They have to sign up, get a taped out location within the room, and card access to the unit during move in and move out periods. This storage is maintained by our Office of International Education who both advise the house and works directly with our international population.

Outside of that, we partner with Storage Scholars as our prefered storage vendor for our students.

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Hannah Phillips | Associate Director of Housing & Residence Life
Washington and Lee University
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Hello, Jess -

We're a small school - only about 625 beds. When I came into my position, the University was also allowing students to store belongings. So many students ended up storing unimportant items, so they typically abandoned them and left us with the cleanup. After our professional staff spent 2-3 whole days cleaning out our storage room, we moved away from allowing storage entirely without incident. No one even asks for it anymore. On occasion, I hear of students using off-campus storage units (of which there are PLENTY in our area.)

The only exception to this rule is for our international students who are leaving in Spring and have a housing assignment/class schedule with us for the following fall semester. Our storage policy is below:

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Brian Root | Asst. Director of Housing & Res Life
University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg
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