The OnDemand storage service will be available to Quinnipiac University students for the second year in a row before the semester’s end in May, in an initiative started by a Student Government Association senator.

OnDemand Storage will come to campus from May 11-13 during move-out week. The company will bring students’ items to a storage unit over the summer for a set price depending on the items they store. Students can schedule a pick-up date through the company’s website. All items will then be brought back to the campus during move-in week in August.

The company has three different periods: spring, summer and fall, allowing students to pay for the summer period rather than paying monthly. Students only have to pay based on the items they store, not a set storage space. Items have varying price points depending on size and how long the item will be stored.

Karen Owolabi, SGA sophomore senator, said her main goal when she ran for the position was to provide a good storage option because she felt there wasn’t enough information on available options.

As an international student herself, Owolabi said she wondered what she was going to do with all her items when summer came. She continued the initiative from former international senator Mary Dudani, who worked on it previously. The first thing Owolabi, a sophomore law in society and political science double major, did was brainstorm storage companies to collaborate with.

The idea began as one collective storage space that all the students could put their belongings in, but too many problems arose. Sarah Driscoll, director of international student services, thought of OnDemand Storage because the company had previously contacted her about a partnership with Quinnipiac.

Before taking further steps, they brought in Mark DeVilbiss, director of residential life. They also met with Joe Zanca, the founder of OnDemand storage. The partnership was made official in May 2021, with OnDemand Storage coming to pick up items for students that month.

“I had my stuff picked up last spring and had it brought again this fall and the process was so smooth,” Owolabi said. “(The) employees are great, they help you with whatever you need. I think this is definitely going to be an option that’s provided for years and years. I think more and more students are going to be using it.”

Owolabi said OnDemand Storage makes her feel reassured that her items will be safe because

the company specializes in student storage.
“I would say this program gives you a little bit of security,” Owolabi said. “You know that your stuff is safe and you know that you have people in the school to reach out to in the unlikely circumstance that something

would go wrong.”

Driscoll said the initiative solves a lot of issues for students because they don’t need to worry about bringing their items to a storage facility. “I think it’s a really good opportunity,” Driscoll said. “It’s a program that we’re really proud to offer. I think that students will feel like it’s one less thing that they have to worry about. Particularly for students that may live outside of the U.S. or further distances, it’s really helpful, I think.”

Mahlet Sugebo, a Chronicle staff writer, public relations graduate student and international student, used OnDemand Storage last year. She said the process for signing up and picking dates was “fairly easy” and the day she had to fly home, OnDemand picked up her things in a “very seamless” fashion.

Sugebo said the scheduling website glitched after her attempt last summer.

“I thought that meant I accidentally picked a permanent storage option instead of a temporary storage option, and I got scared because my entire dorm room was in those three boxes,” Sugebo said. “So, then I just emailed the help contact information … and they were like, ‘I’m sorry I don’t know why that happened, you can go in and schedule it now,’ and it was perfect.”

Sugebo said that it “worked out really well” because the day she flew back and moved into her room was the same day her stuff was dropped off.

During her first year, Sugebo said she used a different company which she found was more expensive.

“Freshman year, I used Dorm Room Movers, and it was crazy expensive,” Sugebo said. “It was $300 to store it for the entire summer and I was like, ‘That’s a ridiculous amount of money. I don’t want to have to pay that every summer.’”