Starting in the summer of 2023, the University will be providing on-campus storage options to low-income students during breaks as a part of a series of initiatives being undertaken to further support high-need students. A storage space on Long Lane, currently used by Physical Plant, will be cleared out and repurposed to house student belongings.

The idea to provide storage for low-income students originated in Spring 2022 in a meeting between the Budget and Financial Planning Office, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Admission, the Financial Aid Office, and the Office for Equity and Inclusion. The purpose of the meeting was to provide greater support for students during the summer and other breaks during the academic year.

“We’ve operated on this kind of duality of either we’re open, and we have full services available, or we’re closed, and we have hardly any services available,” Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Whaley said. “Increasingly, that paradigm doesn’t work for a larger and larger number of our students who have housing insecurity or live too far away to leave for certain breaks.”

Whaley has been meeting with a group of students from the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) over the course of the Fall 2022 semester in order to work on solutions to the issues that were identified during this spring meeting. A plan for the storage space has been submitted to the Budget and Financial Planning Office. It has yet to be approved, but because the planned storage facility is already owned by the University, the budget of the Office of Student Affairs should be able to cover the cost of the program. 

As it stands, the Office of Student Affairs will send an email to students who qualify for free University storage to make them aware of the opportunity. 

“Students defined as ‘high need’ (meaning if you have an expected parent contribution of $7,000 or less) by the Office of Financial Aid will have access to the space,” WSA Student Life Committee Chair Orly Meyer ’24 wrote in an email to The Argus. “Students close to this cut-off may also have access.”

In order to assist with transportation and moving, a few student workers will be hired sometime around spring break, although their work will take place at the end of the year and potentially during the summer. 

“The logistics of using the space, such as hiring student workers to manage access, and clearing out the rooms to make them usable will be worked out before [summer],” Meyer wrote. “The space will also be available for use during the semester and winter break for students studying abroad or on leave, but starting next academic year.”

The amount of space that each student is entitled to will depend on the number of students that decide to use the storage space. However, if there is more demand than can be accommodated, changes could be made in future years. 

“The space that Facilities has is expandable in some ways, so if we run tight on space this year, maybe they can plan on more space for us for the following year,” Whaley said.  

The University briefly considered other options for storage, such as partnering with local storage facilities in order to provide a low-cost storage option. However, providing storage space directly was determined to be more cost-effective. 

The University has tried to provide summer storage in the past, but there were frequent problems with student access to their stored belongings and the program proved extremely labor-intensive for staff. As a result, access to stored items during the breaks will likely be limited. 

Currently, students can ask the University for storage fees to be covered through an emergency fund, which can often be a cumbersome process.

“We’re trying to make it a more streamlined system,”WSA Equity and Inclusion chair Heather Cassell ’23.5 said. “Right now, it’s like, if you want storage, then ask for the money for it, but it’s an assumption that students know who to ask when they have problems, you know?”

After the pilot program takes place in the summer of 2023, the University will be looking to see what can be improved going forward. 

“We’ll learn as we go, you know, it’s a pilot program,” Whaley said. “Moving into it, we’d like to put as few limits and barriers as possible into place.”

Leo Bader can be reached at lbader@wesleyan.edu.