Moving 6,000 students off campus in April and preparing to house another 6,000 in August is not for the faint of heart.

Colleen Bailey is now in her 20th summer of doing this work and she said she would not have it any other way.

During the spring/summer semester, Bailey manages the daily operations of Housing and Residence Life and plans for fall semester move-in.

"From May to August, our housing staff members are welcoming, planning, preparing and hosting," Bailey said.

Jobs for housing staff include staffing new student orientation, welcoming summer campers, prepping rooms for new occupants, giving housing tours and planning for move-in. Add in the task of hiring and training 120 resident assistants before August.

"We never slow down and there is never a dull moment," Bailey said, adding that many campus departments collaborate to make this transitional period successful, including Facilities Services and the Grand Valley Police Department.

What keeps her going? Meeting new students and families as they move into living centers in late August.

"It's such a transformative day for people. I love it," she said.

Carl Brown teaches a speech class and admitted that the condensed spring/summer semester does present some challenges.

"The longer class meetings are a challenge for both the students and me," Brown said. "I tend to incorporate more activities that get us moving and thinking in order to break up the meetings and keep us engaged with the material."

Brown joined Grand Valley's faculty nine years ago.

Regardless of the semester, he said one thing remains constant among students. "Grand Valley students are dreamers who believe in themselves. They are determined," he said.

More than 1,000 different courses (2,690 sections) will be offered during the semester.

It's construction season for Ed Simon and other staff members from the Grounds Department. 

The spring/summer semester gives the department time to prepare the university's 1,400-plus acres for fall.

Simon said there are four sub-categories within the department that allow staff members to address specific areas: irrigation, landscaping, athletics and arboriculture. 

"Staff can specialize in and gain knowledge in those areas through professional development," he said, adding their specialization works into conversations with other faculty and staff members. "Frequently, our staff will become liaisons for others on campus when they are asked for advice about planting beds, plant choices or lawn care."

The department takes a great deal of pride in maintaining Grand Valley's grounds. "We often remind ourselves of the significance our work has regarding a student’s choice in where they attend college," he said.

Simon's eye for meticulously kept lawns continues at his own home. He said he was trained by his father, who was a stickler for details. 

"If I do too much, I’ll hear from my neighbors," he said. "They seem to think I make them look bad, but I would disagree. I just like being outside and keeping busy."

As one of 32 orientation leaders, Davina Chauhan has an important summer job: making sure incoming students and their parents or supporters get to where they need to be.

More than 4,900 new students signed up for orientation sessions, which began in early May and will run through July 25. Orientation is hosted by the Dean of Students and Admissions and Recruitment offices. After a full day of sessions and a resource fair featuring campus departments, students and parents should have most of their questions answered before moving to registration.

Chauhan is a senior international student studying biomedical sciences. She said she did not get a proper orientation because her first year at Grand Valley was in 2020. "I was a COVID-19 orientation student, doing it online from my house in India," she said. "It was difficult."

This marked Chauhan's second year working orientation, a job she said she enjoys because of the interaction with students and their families. 

"The students are nervous but excited. They have lots of questions about the living centers," she said.

Hannah Cline is one of 21 students who are spending their summer deep in research projects with faculty mentors. 

Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship, the students and faculty members receive stipends to devote 12 weeks to a project.

Cline, a senior who is majoring in studio art, is working on an interdisciplinary project with Dat Nguyen, a senior majoring in computer science. With their respective faculty mentors, Vinicius Lima and Hans Dulimarta, Cline and Nguyen are contributing their research and talents toward enhancing an interactive application for exploring spherical geometry. The program was written several years ago by mathematics professors David Austin and William Dickinson. 

Cline said she enjoys the teamwork that blends coding with design to improve the user experience.

"The website and app are designed for both students and teachers and can be integrated into a curriculum," Cline said.

Dickinson said this project will likely continue past the summer months, when the summer scholars program concludes with a presentation showcase. He likened the experience to what the student scholars will see in the workplace.

"This is a very realistic real-world problem," Dickinson said. "On a team project, you may not see the end product. You could be joining a project at midstream."