Few days are more important in a college student’s life than move-in day. For incoming first-year students, it’s the first real impression of campus life. It can shape how they engage with their university community for months and years after their arrival. To gain a deeper understanding of this critical moment, Concept3D recently conducted a survey of move-in day impact on higher education students and faculty. We captured insights on both the challenges and successes of university move-in day and welcome week activities.
The results from 300 students and 300 faculty who all recently participated in the events reveal a nuanced picture. While most experiences are positive, there are clear areas where institutions can improve navigation, accessibility, and communication. This post breaks down the survey findings, highlighting the move-in day impact on students. We’ll also explore strategies that campuses can use to enhance a student’s first days on campus.
How Smoothly Did Move-In Day Go?
(1 meaning not smooth at all, 5 meaning incredibly smooth.)
Survey results show that both students and faculty generally rate move-in day positively, but perceptions differ.
- Among faculty, 76% rated the day as smooth (4 or 5 on a five-point scale), while 21% expressed neutral opinions.
- Just under 70% of students rated the day as smooth, with 25% giving neutral or lower ratings.
This gap highlights the sometimes unseen stressors students face. It also underscores the move-in day impact on their early campus experience. Even when processes appear to run smoothly from an operational perspective, students may still struggle with the emotional and logistical complexities of moving into a new environment.
Research from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) shows that early campus experiences strongly influence how students perceive institutional support and integration into campus life. Recognizing and addressing these discrepancies is a first step for higher education leaders aiming to optimize university move-in day experiences and ensure a strong foundation for student engagement throughout university welcome week.
Top Challenges on Move-In Day
Many move-in experiences are positive. But the survey highlighted specific challenges that both students and faculty encounter. These types of challenges can worsen any positive move-in day impact. Understanding these pain points is critical for improving the move-in process and learning how to plan welcome week for future years.
What Faculty Saw
Show data table
| Challenge | Percent |
|---|---|
| Technology and Access Issues | 26.7% |
| Traffic and Parking Management | 20.7% |
| Balancing operations with student experiences | 19.3% |
| Answering the same questions over and over again | 17% |
| Volunteer Coordination and coverage | 16.3% |
Faculty identified technology and access issues as the biggest challenges, with 27% noting problems related to digital check-ins or campus systems. Traffic and parking difficulties came in at 21%, creating bottlenecks and delays that could have been mitigated through better communication and planning. Additionally, repetitive questions from students and families placed a strain on staff and volunteers, diverting their attention from more complex support needs.
What Students Experienced
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| Challenge | Percent |
|---|---|
| Navigating campus & finding the right building | 26% |
| Room access & setup issues | 25% |
| Emotional stress (goodbyes/adjusting) | 19% |
| Parking & unloading logistics | 17% |
| Information overload | 13% |
Students’ challenges differ from faculty perceptions in subtle but important ways. The survey found that navigation around campus was the most common struggle, with 26% reporting difficulties. Room access and setup issues were the next biggest hurdles at 25%.
Emotional stress was another significant factor, which is an especially important pain point considering the ongoing campus mental health crisis. Nearly 20% of students reported anxiety over leaving their families and adjusting to a new environment.
Parking, unloading, and information overload also contributed to early frustration. This highlights the areas where campuses could provide better support for students and families.
How can universities mitigate the biggest challenges on move-in day?
Potential solutions for mitigating move-in day challenges include:
- Clear communication
- Dedicated volunteer support
- Tools that help students navigate campus efficiently
Interactive maps, for instance, can guide students and families to the correct buildings, check-in points, and parking areas, reducing stress for everyone involved.
Where Students and Families Got Most Confused
Confusion during move-in day is common. But the survey revealed some interesting discrepancies between faculty and student perceptions. Those discrepancies, in turn, provide insight into where your move-in day impact may fall short and where improvements may be valuable.
About 66% of students eventually figured out where to go and what to do, though 4% found the move-in day process confusing. Faculty, by contrast, estimated that only 55% of students fell into the “figured it out eventually” category, suggesting that staff may underestimate student confusion.
The main bottlenecks identified were finding the correct building or check-in location, as reported by 34.7% of faculty. The next biggest difficulties were parking and unloading guidance, as reported by 22.3% of faculty. Students reported that more help navigating campus (32%) and better parking and unloading instructions (30%) would have made move-in day smoother.
Faculty answer: Where did you notice the most confusion or bottlenecks among students/families
Show data table
| Observation | Percent |
|---|---|
| Finding the right building or check-in location | 34.7% |
| Parking & unloading locations | 22.3% |
| Unclear or overwhelming instructions | 19.7% |
| Key/ID pickup | 12.7% |
| Overpacking & elevator congestion | 10.7% |
Crucially, nearly 87% of respondents agreed that an interactive campus map would have helped to improve things. This reinforces the importance of digital tools for reducing confusion and enhancing the overall move-in impact for students and families alike.
The Role of Welcome Week in Extending Move-In Day Impact
Move-in day may only last a few hours. But its influence extends through university welcome week and beyond. For many students, these first seven days form the foundation of their social and academic networks, determining how connected they feel to campus life and how confident they are in navigating their new environment.
The survey revealed that 85% of both students and faculty agreed their institution provided enough opportunities for connection during welcome week. This is a welcome sign that most campuses understand the importance of early engagement. However, perceptions of participation differ.
Faculty believed that students attended more events than they actually did. The majority of students attended between three and eight events on campus, which is a healthy number on the surface. At the same time, nearly 40% only attended one or two events. This suggests that awareness and accessibility, rather than the programming itself, may be the limiting factors.
In other words, the events exist. But students may not always see or remember them amid the noise of their first week.
Expected student events attended vs actual events attended
To maximize the move-in day impact beyond the first 24 hours, universities should view welcome week as an integrated continuation of orientation. The transition from move-in to community-building requires intentional event promotion, centralized communication, and tools that make participation simple. A unified calendar or campus event system linked to your interactive map can show what’s happening on campus. It displays where and when students can attend events to help them feel connected and confident during university welcome week.
In other words, programming matters, but clarity and access drive participation. That’s what makes a clear understanding of how to plan welcome week a crucial part of the equation.
How to Plan Welcome Week for Maximum Engagement
Planning an effective welcome week means balancing logistics, inclusion, and momentum. The most successful programs are those that feel intentional instead of overwhelming. Research published in Inside Higher Ed suggests that structured, low-barrier events drive the highest participation among students. They are especially beneficial for commuter and first-generation students.
To plan effectively, campus leaders should think about both timing and variety. Events that mix academic support, social connection, and light physical activity (like guided campus walks or scavenger hunts) create opportunities for students to meet their peers more naturally, all while learning more about their surroundings.
It’s also crucial to promote events through the channels that students actually use. Comprehensively, the survey data suggests that missed events aren’t always a result of disinterest, but can be due to fragmented communication. A centralized, mobile-accessible event hub can unify the experience. It can also answer a core part of the equation about how to plan welcome week. This kind of clear visibility enhances the university move-in day experience even further. You can help students stay engaged throughout the week and ultimately optimize your move-in day impact.
The Move-In Day Impact on Student Belonging
The move-in day impact, of course, reaches far beyond the logistics of parking lots and room keys. It sets the emotional tone for a student’s sense of belonging, which happens to be one of the strongest predictors of retention and academic success. When students feel confident navigating campus, supported by staff, and connected to their peers within the first week, their long-term satisfaction and engagement rise dramatically.
Any survey about university move-in day can also be used as a predictor of long-term student engagement. Students who describe the process as “smooth” become significantly more likely to report positive feelings about university welcome week as a whole. Conversely, students experiencing confusion or stress on move-in day can carry that anxiety far beyond welcome week.
That’s why your move-in day impact goes far beyond making the day itself a success. Investing in move-in is a direct investment in student well-being. Reducing uncertainty and building a sense of competence early on can help provide what psychologists call “early mastery experiences”—the belief that one can navigate and succeed in their environment. That confidence, in turn, can define how students approach the rest of their college career.
Notably, nearly 20% of students in our survey reported feeling at least some level of emotional stress because of having to say goodbye and adjusting to their new environment. Schools that can provide the necessary support during university move-in day and reduce that stress will build a significant amount of goodwill that ultimately results in better retention and persistence.
Next Steps for Higher Education Leaders to Maximize Move-In Day Impact
For campus leaders, the takeaway from our survey is clear. University move-in day and welcome week are far from isolated events. Instead, they are sequential phases of the same onboarding process. Improving one strengthens the other.
If you want to maximize move-in day impact, take a closer look at students’ answers on what would have improved their move-in experience:
- More help navigating campus (32%). Better physical and digital wayfinding, through signage and digital campus maps, can go a long way toward reducing confusion and feelings of being overwhelmed.
- Better parking and unloading guidance (30%). Communication ahead of time and clear directions to relevant parking lots can help students and families know exactly where to go and what procedure to follow.
- Clear, step-by-step instructions (18%). The more straightforward the instructions are, the better equipped students will be to remember them on the overwhelming day of moving in.
- Faster room check-in and key/card pickup (11%). This is a largely logistical challenge that may require process mapping to understand where the process breaks down and how it can be streamlined.
- More volunteers and hands-on help (10%). Ultimately, move-in day should be an all-hands-on-deck experience. Student and staff helpers can make a big difference.
Show data table
| Suggestion | Percent |
|---|---|
| More help navigating campus | 32% |
| Better parking & unloading guidance | 30% |
| Clear, step-by-step instructions | 18% |
| Faster room check-in/key pickup | 11% |
| More volunteers/hands-on help | 10% |
The good news is that both students and faculty agree on these major challenges as a whole. That means institutions can evaluate their communication workflows, identifying gaps in how students receive information before and during their arrival. Digital solutions like interactive maps, event systems, and real-time updates can help unify messaging and reduce repetitive strain on staff.
Leaders should also formalize cross-departmental coordination between areas such as housing, orientation, facilities, and student affairs. This step can ensure a more consistent experience across the board. That consistency will define the move-in day impact far more than any single event could.
Building a Stronger First Impression to Amplify the Impact of Move-In Day
Move-in day and university welcome week are defining moments in a student’s college journey. They become the crucial first impression that sets the emotional tone for the entire semester—and academic year. They influence how students navigate the campus environment and directly affect belonging, engagement, and retention.
Welcome week extends that first impression. It provides structured opportunities for students to form social connections, engage in campus culture, and begin building a sense of community. It’s why knowing how to plan welcome week is about getting student buy-in as much as getting the logistics right. The most effective programs are not necessarily the most elaborate, but rather the most accessible. Devise low-barrier, well-promoted events that reduce confusion and make it easy for participants to engage.
When these two moments are coordinated strategically, the result is a more cohesive and welcoming experience that strengthens the overall student journey. Higher education leaders can leverage this insight by integrating digital tools, clear communication, and cross-departmental planning to maximize engagement. That, in turn, enables them to treat both move-in day and welcome week as strategic investments, prioritizing them to ensure that every student starts their first semester feeling seen and connected.