Before new and returning Longhorns make their way home to the Forty Acres each fall, our University Housing and Dining team spends the summer months preparing our rooms, dining locations and other important spaces for you. Our six units work together to ensure that everything – from the rooms where you’ll live to the coffee shops where you’ll meet friends – is ready for a great year ahead. By the time Mooov-In and opening weekend arrives in August, we’ve been working behind the scenes for months to ensure that everything is as smooth as it is memorable.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Forty this fall! Here’s a peek behind the scenes at what goes on throughout our six units to make sure everything is ready for you when you get here.
Preparing Your Living and Dining Spaces
The Forty is anything but empty and quiet throughout the summer months. While most Longhorns are away, we host weekly orientation sessions and various summer camps and events in our residence halls and dining locations. This means that our teams are not only working to repair, update and maintain these spaces for your upcoming arrival, but are also working to make rooms ready between each session, camp and event. We also work throughout the summer to finish construction and technical projects that improve your campus experience, all while serving future Longhorns and guests on the Forty Acres. These crucial tasks — which span every team from dining and residence life to facilities and IT — are all performed with the mission to cultivate communities that help you succeed in your home on the Forty.
Assigning Rooms for the Coming Year
Our team collaborates throughout the spring and summer to help over 10,000 students find the best housing fit possible while satisfying as many preferences as we can. Late spring into summer is the busiest time of year for our team of housing advisors, who are responsible for reviewing housing and roommate preferences, rooms for our Living Learning Communities (LLCs), and providing support throughout the housing process. If you have any questions regarding housing, you can reach our team via email or by calling 512-471-3136. Housing advisors are standing by throughout this time to ensure that your questions can be answered in the order they’re received. While the team works to answer all questions as quickly as possible, please be patient as they work through the queue. For more information on how our housing advisor team functions, be sure to read this Spotlight article.
Getting Ready for Mooov-In
After all residents have been assigned a housing option, the road toward Mooov-In begins. Mooov-In is our annual check-in event for students moving to campus and its smooth operation involves close collaboration between all six units within UHD. That collaboration begins long before your big moving day arrives: We work throughout the spring and summer to prepare signage, ensure your ID cards have meal plan and building access, communicate about important reminders and events, and train residence life staff so they are ready to help you with whatever questions or concerns you may have. All of this work culminates in a major rite of passage — with unique processes for each building and apartment complex — that feels like a celebration of your Forty Acres journey.
We work this hard because we care deeply about giving you the best possible experience on the Forty, and we look forward to welcoming you home this August – whether it’s for your first year or you’re returning back to campus.