Many students will move out of residence halls, Frederiksen Court, SUV and off-campus apartments this week, and there are checkout procedures to make this process run smoothly.

Campustown assistant general manager Alex Sidorowych said the biggest mistake moving residents make is ignoring the move-out packets distributed to tenants. 

“They’ll provide them with as far as what the expectation is at move-out,” Sidorowych said. 

Packets include information for approved cleaning services, how to forward mail and security deposit return. 

Sidorowych said the most common mistakes made by movers are obvious ones.

“They don’t clean their apartment, they leave furniture behind, I mean obvious things. … For example, we require that carpets are cleaned at move-out time: They don’t provide us with a copy of the receipt notifying us of it.”

Cameron Aisenbrey, communications specialist in the Department of Residence, says his department tries to make the process as easy as possible for students.

“It’s a different process than move-in, where we have a lot of helpers there to help you move everything in and grab all your stuff,” Aisenbrey explained. “It really is your responsibility to clean out your room; it’s pretty straightforward.”

Students are encouraged to start preparing for move-out as early as possible.

“There are things you can do before finals or dead week even get here,” Aisenbrey said. “Depending on how close you live or whether you have family visiting or anything like that, you can start moving some stuff out already.”

Aisenbrey said the time between dead week and finals week is a good time to start removing bigger items from dorm rooms and recommended students start cleaning and organizing early.

“We obviously make accommodations for everyone because everyone has to go through the checkout process,” Aisenbrey said and added students should not panic if they haven’t started the move-out process yet. “But the sooner you can start, the better.”

With nearly all ISU students moving out this week, Aisenbrey recommends students set up checkout appointments with their community advisers as soon as possible in order to choose a time that works best with their move-out plans.

“All week is pretty busy, but the earlier in the week is better typically because most students start leaving more and more as the week goes on,” Aisenbrey said. “Thursday and Friday are probably really our heaviest days, in terms of traffic.”

Madi Linkenmeyer, senior in advertising, recommends students whose finals are done early to return borrowed lofted beds and then leave as early as possible to avoid the rush of students trying to move out during the last days of finals week.

“Go through the checkout list before you meet with your [community adviser] to leave,” Linkenmeyer said. “I remember my [community adviser] was frustrated with residents who did not have their rooms cleaned before the final checkout.”

As a way to assist students with the move-out process, the Department of Residence developed the Save Program, which students can take advantage through May 15; this program collects unwanted items and donates them to Goodwill and local food pantries.

“They have drop-off locations throughout campus in most of the residence halls, and you can donate gently used clothing, household items or leftover food you might have,” Aisenbrey said.

The Save Program accepts items in good condition, as well as nonperishable and unopened foods.

Aisenbrey said his biggest advice for students during the move-out process is to clean rooms thoroughly before their checkout appointment.

“Make sure that it is as clean as the day you moved in,” Aisenbrey said. “That can be hard depending on what all happened in your room, but the biggest thing that students have to stay for is cleaning.”

There is a fine charged to students who do not clean their rooms properly, but Aisenbrey said community advisers will warn students beforehand and allow students to fix any problem areas.

“Cleaning is the really big thing, and with that there are supplies at the hall desks that [students] can use,” Aisenbrey said.

Aisenbrey said it is also important for students to establish a move-out timeline with their roommates and to be on time for their checkout appointment with a community adviser.

“Respect your roommate, respect your [community adviser],” Aisenbrey said. “It just makes it easier for everyone else if you’re on time and doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

He also encourages those moving out to remember community advisers are students too.

“They’re there to answer questions and assist in any way they can obviously,” Aisenbrey said. “But they have finals and other things going on, so that’s important to remember.”

The Department of Residence does offer an alternative to checkout appointments with community advisers, called Express Checkout.

“Then [students] don’t have to worry about setting up a checkout appointment or anything; they can leave when they want,” Aisenbrey explained. “A lot of people find that a lot easier.”

For this process, students complete a form and a move-out checklist on their own before turning in it in with their keys at their hall desk.

“Our staff is there to help,” Aisenbrey reminded students. “Especially at this point, we’re here to answer questions and help out as much as we can and just make it so it’s as easy as it can be on the students.”