UF Faculty and Staff Relocation Guide

UF's fall 2025 figures list 6,195 faculty and 33,516 employees in total, including faculty, across 16 colleges on a campus of about 2,000 acres. With UF Health Shands Hospital at 1600 SW Archer Road, Gainesville gains a steady stream of household moves unrelated to dorms or per-bedroom leases. Three things make this move different: (1) It is a full household — books, office files, furniture, often a partner and children. (2) It is tied to an employment file — an offer letter, a moving allowance, and a reimbursement process decide what gets paid before anyone lifts a box. (3) It usually lands in summer, but not only in summer — fall classes run August 20 to December 2, 2026, and spring classes run January 11 to April 21, 2027; clinical, research, and staff roles start year-round.

Track 1 — UF-appointed mover. Procurement has contracted with national carriers for household relocations. Procurement routes your request to a contracted carrier, the carrier's representative works with you on details, and your hiring department holds budget authority. UF has advised that summer is the moving industry's busiest season and asked departments for at least 60 days of advance notice for summer moves. If you start in August, a June booking is already late.

Track 2 — Self-move. When a department allows only a small amount, UF's Self-Move Guidelines let a new faculty or staff member move their own goods with a rental truck — the guidelines name U-Haul and Penske as examples — or hire a mover of their choice. You pay up front and seek reimbursement afterward, submitting an itemized log and receipts through your department, which files an additional-pay ePAF (electronic Personnel Action Form) monitored by University Payroll Services. Keep receipts for the truck and equipment, boxes, tape and packing materials, all fuel for the moving truck, and tolls. Keep the itemized version of everything.

Either way, the Gainesville end is the same: a loaded truck, a new home, and a fixed start date. Local labor-only help fits that last mile — if your department confirms reimbursement treatment in advance.

1. Offer accepted: confirm allowance, track, and tax treatment in writing. 2. Home secured: confirm closing or lease date, truck access, stairs or elevator, and any homeowners association (HOA) or leasing-office move rules directly. 3. Sixty days out in summer, thirty out otherwise: book the long-distance leg and reserve local unload labor, with a backup date if the closing can slip. 4. Arrival day: one person handles keys, walkthrough notes, and the receipt folder; the crew unloads room by room — office and library boxes to the room where they will be unpacked, not the garage. 5. First week: file receipts promptly; on a self-move, reimbursement waits on your paperwork, and expenses are taxed in the year incurred. 6. First semester: UF runs Experience UF, a year-long welcome program for new faculty and professionals with monthly sessions across campus and Alachua County. Ask Human Resources (HR) for the schedule; HR also maintains GatorPerks, a faculty/staff discount program for house and home services. If a closing gap leaves you between homes, a storage guide lists verified facilities and explains why climate control matters in Florida humidity.

Q: Does UF pay for faculty and staff moving expenses? A: It may. UF's moving guide states the university may pay for relocation of household goods and a vehicle for a new full-time faculty or staff employee, including packing, transporting, unloading, and delivery. The dean, department chairperson, or vice president decides the allowance. Confirm your amount in writing before booking.

Q: Are UF moving expenses taxable? A: Yes. All household relocation expenses paid for, or reimbursed to, a UF employee are taxable income. UF withholds income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes and reports the amount in Box 1 of Form W-2, including payments made directly to movers.

Q: What is the difference between an appointed mover and a self-move? A: An appointed-mover move is routed through UF Procurement Services to a contracted national carrier, with your department holding budget authority. A self-move means you rent a truck or hire a mover of your choice, pay up front, keep itemized receipts for the truck, equipment, packing materials, fuel, and tolls, and seek reimbursement through your department's additional-pay process.

Q: What moving costs does UF not pay for? A: House-hunting travel, meals and lodging, and temporary living expenses under the household-goods policy. The unpaid list also includes pet transportation, maid or cleaning service, and unpacking. Storage in transit is paid only if approved in advance, and then for less than 30 days.

Q: How much does local unload help cost in Gainesville? A: $150/hr for 2 movers, $225/hr for 3 movers, and $300/hr for 4 movers — $75 per mover per hour, 3-hour minimum, so a job starts at $450. You provide the truck or container; the crew unloads and places your household. Call 352-328-6215.

Q: Where do UF faculty and staff tend to live? A: The Duckpond historic district about a mile east of campus, northwest Gainesville's family neighborhoods toward Santa Fe College, Haile Plantation and the Town of Tioga west on Newberry Road, and the Archer Road and Southwest 34th Street corridors for staff based at UF Health Shands and the south health campus.

Q: When should I book if I start in the fall? A: Early. Summer is the industry's busiest season and UF's peak arrival window at once, and UF has asked departments for at least 60 days of notice for summer relocations. Fall classes start August 20, 2026 — aim to be unloaded two weeks before your first meeting.

Q: Are my belongings insured when your crew unloads my truck? A: Military Veterans Moving People carries general liability insurance and workers' compensation. On a labor-only job there is no cargo insurance: the truck or container is yours or your carrier's, and you remain the carrier. Settle valuation and coverage with your long-distance carrier before the load leaves your old home.