2024-2025 Spring Closing Information

The following information will help you prepare for the academic year spring closing (most information is also applicable to any student who is checking out of a room mid-year). If you have questions that are not addressed here, please contact our office.

Closing dates

Students must vacate their residence hall room at the time indicated:

  • Thursday, May 8, 2025: All non-graduating students must be checked out of their room for summer break by 11:00 a.m. Students staying in summer housing for the entire summer will stay in their current room until they receive additional directions from Residence Life (learn more about summer housing options).
  • Sunday, May 11, 2025: All residence halls close and all remaining non-approved students must be checked out of their rooms by 5:00 p.m.

Limited late stay exceptions

Students classified as essential for closing the college and those operating Commencement are permitted to remain on campus until the second closing date. In this case, the supervising department will cover all housing and meal plan expenses for the student(s) until the second closing date.

In-season student-athletes approved to stay late should expect to check out by 11:00 a.m. the day following the completion of their last competition unless other arrangements are communicated by their coach after conferring with the Director of Residence Life.  If the student-athlete is a graduating senior and their last competition ends prior to Commencement Sunday, the student-athlete would be permitted to stay in housing until the standard graduating senior date and time.  If the student-athlete is not graduating, but the day after the last competition falls on Commencement Sunday then their check-out deadline will be adjusted to 5:00 p.m. to avoid any potential conflict with Commencement activities.

A resident who has a sibling graduating this year from Cornell College can request to stay until the second closing date with a special daily rate of $0.00 for post-closing days outside of their academic year housing agreement. This is considered a personal exception.

Other possible personal exceptions include, but are not limited to, unsafe homes, natural weather complications, vehicle malfunction, etc. Every exception is considered on a case-by-case basis.  Exceptions allow a student to extend their housing agreement at a daily cost to be placed on their student account. Alternatively, students taking all their items with them and staying at a local hotel should be considered and may be more affordable.

Student with personal exceptions will not have an active meal plan because their agreement dates will have ended on the Thursday of Block 8, Week 4. The Hilltop Cafe will still be open and will accept personal payment at the door until closing.

Students making summer housing leases should plan with the above dates in mind. Personal exceptions are not granted for lease gaps.

To request a personal exception to the above dates, students should contact their appropriate assistant director by 9:00 a.m. on Monday of Block 8, Week 3.

Checkout procedures

Full checkout instructions will be shared with students during their floor meetings early in Block 8.

To ensure a smooth checkout, please refer to the following checklist:

  1. Pack early: Waiting until the last minute will only create more stress and provide less time. Students participating in Commencement Sunday are strongly encouraged to be packed prior to the ceremony.
  2. Choose in-person or express: Communicate with your RA which check out experience you prefer.
    1. In-person: RA reviews the checkout instructions with you in the room. They will help look for any forgotten items. RAs don't determine how much damage charges will cost. You can explain to them the context around damages if you know who caused it. This will help the college charge the appropriate person. Complete the checkout form, tape the key to the form, and give it to the RA.
    2. Express: Obtain a checkout form from an RA or from the RA office and follow the instructions yourself. Return the form and the key to the an RA or the RA office in your lobby. DO NOT slip the keys under an RA's bedroom door.
  3. Remove personal items: Students must remove all personal belongings from their residence hall prior to checking out their room. These items may not be left in the hallways or other common areas of the building in order to check out and remove later. All personal furniture and appliances, including refrigerators, must be removed from campus by the student. Personal furniture left inside or outside a building will result in a common damage charge to cover the cost of disposal/recycling. If you have food or other items in the community refrigerator or cupboards in your building, please remove those items prior to checkout.
    1. Refrigerators
      1. What to know: Because they contain harmful chemicals, refrigerators may not be disposed of in landfills (and consequently cannot be left in trash closets or inside dumpsters). Organizations that can recycle refrigerators and televisions include Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, and CSG Appliance Recycling. Many organizations charge a small disposal fee to drop off these items, and a slightly larger fee to arrange to pick them up prior to your leaving campus.
      2. Free college service: leave your refrigerators on the ground near the designated dumpsters to have the college recycle them for you. Avoid a fine for leaving it in your room and don't bother with transporting it to a recycling site.
  4. Remove trash: Take all garbage to the dumpster provided outside of the buildings (residents may be charged for garbage piled in hallways, in the garbage rooms, left in student rooms, or left outside dumpsters).
  5. Remove tape: Completely remove any tape and other adhesives from walls, doors, and windows (tape removal is the most common damage charge at checkout).
  6. Rearrange furniture: The furniture in the room should be in the same condition and arrangement as when you checked into the room. All college furniture must be in the room and correctly assembled. Drawers and cupboards should be emptied and wiped down. Residents that stacked their furniture themselves will need to return the furniture to its original unstacked configuration. Bed pegs used for lofting/bunking/stacking should be returned to the RA Office.
  7. Clean: You must wipe off all furniture tops, drawers, shelving, and window sills. Also, you must sweep and, if necessary, mop your floor before checking out. If you have carpet, please vacuum. Vacuums are not provided in every hall so please consider bringing one or borrowing one from a friend during the year.
  8. Secure your room: Close and lock all windows and your room door prior to departure.
  9. Return keys: Return your keys in person or through the express option. See above (choose in-person or express) for more information.

Boxes

A limited supply of boxes will be available for free outside the Mail and Service Center. Though a supply is available, there will not be enough to meet every student's needs. As such, students are still encouraged to explore other options (like asking family to bring some from home or using reusable plastic totes).

Dumpsters and donation drop-off

The college will place additional dumpsters around campus. All trash closets will be locked when these dumpsters are in place. Once the trash closets are locked all trash should be taken outside to the dumpsters. In addition, the college will designate locations to take items to be donated (clothes, food, etc.).

Dumpsters are tentatively scheduled to be placed in the following locations:

  • In P-lot to the west of Pfeiffer Hall
  • In H-lot to the north of Smith Hall
  • In O-lot outside of Merner Hall
  • In O-lot outside the service entrance to Olin Hall
  • In M-lot outside the lower level entrance to Russell Hall
  • In front of Bowman-Carter Hall

A large donation truck may be available the Monday before finals week (Block 8, week 3) until the Sunday of graduation. For a list of acceptable items that can be donated, please refer to Goodwill of the Heartland's website.

Please remember to remove all items from the residence halls. Trash should be taken to the dumpsters and items for donation should be taken to the donation truck. At no time should anyone enter dumpsters on campus to retrieve discarded items. Residents of a building may be charged if items (including trash) are left in the halls.

Late check-out fines

Only graduating seniors, summer housing residents staying for the entire summer (this does not include 10-week summer residents) and students who are authorized by the Residence Life Office may stay past the initial residence hall closing deadline (please refer to our list of important dates for those specific dates and times). Students who do not move out within the appropriate timeframe will be assessed a $25.00 fine for each hour past the deadline until they are confirmed to have vacated the residence halls.

Senior students may not host guests who are Cornell students past the Thursday of the closing week starting at 11:00 a.m.  This is to avoid unapproved students staying on campus past the closing date. Students found harboring unapproved people and those staying will be referred to the student conduct process and fines may be applied.

Storage (including storage pods)

It is each student's responsibility to arrange for the storage of their belongings during the summer. All residence hall storage rooms will be emptied over the summer. Storage of personal property on campus over the summer is not possible.  There are a number of storage unit businesses located in the surrounding area. We recommend that several students share a storage unit to help maximize space usage and save money. The availability of storage units is limited in the area, so do not hesitate to coordinate storage early. The Thomas Commons Info Desk may be able to help students find other students seeking storage unit partners so please check with them.

Cornell College occasionally receives requests from students who want to use commercial storage pods as a means of moving their things in or out. The college can permit a limited number of storage pods to be stationed on campus dependent on available space. Requests will be honored in the order in which they are received. Refer to our information on storage pods for complete details.

Abandoned property

All personal student property left behind in residence hall rooms that are not designated by the college as trash will enter the abandoned property procedure. Upon the items being found by college staff, the college will attempt contact with the student about the property. The college will attempt to learn what the student wishes to be done with the property. The property will be held for 30 days from the first notice. Under certain circumstances, the student may request the property mailed to them or held for additional time so the student can return for the items. All costs associated with mailing, including but not limited to postage, college labor, and materials, will be due to the college prior to mailing the property. There may be costs to hold property longer than 30 days from the first notice. In the event property is not claimed by the student after 30 days from the first notice, the property will be declared abandoned and disposed of or donated. Items cannot be retrieved once declared abandoned and the college assumes no responsibility for reimbursement or replacement.

Personalized information about the abandoned property procedure is shared with affected students at their Cornell College email addresses upon the discovery of qualified property.

Damage to student rooms

Professional staff from Facilities Services and Residence Life will inspect student rooms after the halls close to determine necessary repairs and assess damage and cleaning fees as appropriate. Room damages are billed to student accounts through the Division of Business and Enterprise Services.

RAs are not responsible for assessing damage charges, nor can they provide assurances that a student will not be charged for damages. The best assurance is to return the room to its original condition.  Students concerned about potential charges should contact their assistant director of residence life prior to moving out.

Damage to common areas

Residents of a floor or residence hall are responsible for damage or trash left to the common areas of their residence hall such as kitchens, lounge areas, bathrooms, hallways, laundry rooms, and stairways. Excessive cleaning cost from garbage and furniture left behind in the hallways, storage rooms, and lounges is considered common area damage and will be charged to all members of the floor if a specific student(s) cannot be identified. Refrigerators left in trash closets or inside dumpsters may be considered common damage.

Parking during move-out

On Wednesday, April 24, 2025 (Block 8, week 2):

  • Parking spaces immediately behind Merner and Olin (O-lot north row) will close to accommodate a dumpster and truck for donations for discarding of your belongings. If you are parked in these spaces, please move your vehicle to any other open student lot on campus by 12:00 p.m. on this date.

On Sunday, May 5, 2025 (Block 8, week 4):

  • The remaining parking spaces behind Merner and Olin (O-lot south side) will close to allow for move-out traffic flow throughout the week. If you are parked in these spaces, please move your vehicle to any other open student lot on campus by 6:00 p.m. on this date.

On Friday, May 10, 2025 (Block 8, week 4):

  • All student vehicles must be removed from Russell Hall and the area just west of Pauley-Rorem (M-lot) by 6:00 p.m.
  • Those vehicles may be moved to any other open student lot on campus.
  • The Russell Hall parking lot will temporarily reopen from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. on the Saturday before Commencement Sunday, and from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Commencement Sunday. 
  • During these times only vehicles with a move-out pass (obtained from Residence Life staff) will be allowed to use this lot (to help ensure only one vehicle per family is in the lot at a given time.
  • During these times students and families may use the lot for pick-ups/drop-offs in the circle, and for actively loading their vehicles to check out. General parking in this lot during this time is not permitted.  Because students are expected to be packed in advance, students will have 30 minutes to load their vehicles and vehicles may not be left unattended.

On Saturday, May 11, 2025 (Block 8, week 4):

  • All student vehicles must be removed from A-lot (North of Ash Park) by 6:00 p.m.
  • If you are parked in either of these lots, please move your vehicle by 6 p.m. on this date to D-lot (near Facilities), J-lot (Smith Hall lot), F-lot (Along College Blvd N), or E-lot (across from Armstrong House).

By Monday, May 13, 2025 (summer begins):

General tips and expectations related to parking during move-out:

  • Parking is not permitted in any of the following areas: (1) on the grass, with the exception of a designated area in front of Pfeiffer, Dows, and Tarr; (2) in fire lanes; or (3) in reserved parking spaces or parking spaces for persons with disabilities without proper authorization.
  • 15-minute parking spaces are for use for 15 minutes only.
  • Do not leave vehicles unlocked at any time.
  • Do not leave items next to your vehicle or open rooms unattended.
  • Keep serial numbers and descriptions (or pictures) of valuable items in a safe place.
  • Parking or driving is not permitted on the Ped Mall (except in designated areas near Bowman-Carter Hall).
  • All students leaving campus must take their vehicles with them. No summer storage/parking is permitted. Any vehicle left abandoned will be towed off campus at the owner's expense

Meal plans

Please see the dining hours to learn the last meal served and on what day during Block 8, Week 4. Starting on Thursday through the brunch service on Commencement Sunday, the only students who will be permitted to use their meal plan are those for whom a department is paying for their meals (i.e. graduating seniors and those non-graduating seniors who are working for a department to help with Commencement and/or closing). Students for whom a department is paying for their meals will be restricted to one meal per meal period; no carry-out options will be available.

Summer residents, those with personal exceptions, and other students who are on campus are welcome to attend meals after the meal plan has been turned off but will be expected to pay at the door at each service they attend.

Flex dollars that come with the 14-meal plan will expire at 2:00 p.m. on the Wednesday of finals (Block 8, week 4). Declining balance dollars that a student adds to their own card will remain on the account and roll over to the next year. Users who register their meal plan account can check their flex dollars balance.

Computer access

The Law Hall computer lab will close at 11:00 a.m. on the Thursday after finals (Block 8, week 4).  Refer to Information Technology's web pages for more details. The Cole Library will have modified hours during Commencement weekend. Refer to the library's web pages for hours.

Getting to and from the airport

If you will be traveling and don't have a car, you can refer to a list of transportation suggestions compiled by the Thomas Commons Information Desk. You will find the college's electronic need ride board as well as information on commercial transportation opportunities.

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